Are Animals Capable Of Feeling Complex Emotions? | Animal Odd Couples | Pets & Vets

we're fascinated by animals that behave in ways we would never expect millions of us watch clips of different species that normally wouldn't come together showing what looks like friendship affection and even love towards each other Kate took one look at her thank you I'll take over stop it just melts your heart doesn't it but what lies at the heart of these behaviors can science explain why these unusual partnerships take place [Music] I'm Liz Bonnin and I'm going on a worldwide journey of discovery to find out why animals of different species make friends with each other why a cat would adopt ducklings I was blown away about whatever scene I just caught and believe it if an orangutan could really keep a dog as a pet or if two animals of different species could even fall in love I'm on a mission to find the world's cutest and weirdest animal friends [Music] [Music] this Jaguar Jack Russell are inseparable when staff tried to move the Jaguar to a bigger enclosure of its own as it grew up they were having none of it both cried and whined incessantly until they were finally reunited and you know this does beg the question how on earth does this work cats and dogs don't normally get along but here in this wildlife park in South Africa bullit the Jack Russell is best mates with a predatory Jaguar named Jack who could easily have him for dinner but instead bullet and jag spend as much time as they can together in this enclosure they eat and sleep together and are always playing together so what's going on for a long time we've thought that most animals of different species have evolved to stick to their own kind and to generally not get along but in recent years the Internet has been changing all that videos getting hits in there millions are showing different species interacting in ways that scientists didn't think were possible so how can we explain these relationships and what can they teach us about how the animal kingdom really works to find some answers I'm going to start by meeting a variety of animal odd couples that seem to be the best of friends and I'm beginning my weird and wonderful journey in Atlanta Georgia in the south east of America because I've heard about an incredible example of animal friendship between the most unlikely of species they live here in this refuge with over a thousand other injured orphaned and abandoned animals so this is Baloo an American black bear he's 12 years old and he's been at this Wildlife Sanctuary here in Atlanta ever since he was a little cub and all through his life even into adulthood he's been keeping company with a couple of animals well you just wouldn't expect and there's one of them now but your friends [Music] I have never seen a fully grown bear and tiger in the same enclosure before [Music] Shere Khan is a Bengal tiger who's also around 12 years old Asian black bears and tigers do share the same territory in the Far East but when they meet one of the men's at badly injured or killed and so to see these two guys they're around 12 years old showing so much affection for each other is pretty amazing the third member of this unlikely friendship is a lion called Leo the Bears the boss and then leo the lion falls in second and then shere Khan's alone you know he's a little wild child it when they're sleeping in the clubhouse all three of them they pile in together they just know each other and they love each other jam ahead cough is the founder of this sanctuary and she's looked after the three of them since they were just a couple of months old kept illegally as pets they were confiscated by the authorities and brought to her Wildlife Sanctuary they had been in a dark basement and they were all kept together and then the tiger and the Lions noses were busted up and they're scarred to this day what absolutely fascinates me is the fact that these are grown predators in their own right who are displaying so much affection for each other right yes what do you think is going on here well they're truly a family they've never been separated we tried twice when they first came in and they wouldn't eat they cried all those after about eight or nine hours I said oh well they're just babies let's put him back together would you describe these three as friends very close friends I wished I had a friend as close as they are to think that they are friends that they care for each other when you see how they behave with each other except for that is this play going on oh yeah this is play Sher Khan is pushing Baloo and Boo is ready to go to sleep and Sher Khan dosis all the time he does it - Leo - I'm loving townsperson us yeah I mean mr. Khan is the one that it's nice to have seen that kind of behavior - yes for some reason it just makes me happy that they have those kind of oh yes because they're not sedated I'm amazed by what I've seen so to get a scientific view I've asked Clive win a psychology professor who studies animal behavior to have a look at this unlikely animal friendship well what do you make of this situation Clive it's beautiful I really love it I think it's marvelous to see animals that started out such difficult early lives being given such a beautiful home being given true sanctuary I think it's a wonderful thing to see and what do you think about the nature of their relationship you know how they behave together and dare I say how they might feel about each other yeah well so I've been watching them play for a little while now watching them interact with each other and I've been thinking about well what's the best way to capture what I see there are elements of rivalry there is a pecking order here and I saw the tiger testing the bear a little bit and you get that with brother so I would say it's a Brotherhood do you think one of the big factors involved in this relationship especially in the early years was a certain type of bond to relieve the stress they were experiencing absolutely absolutely there's good research I mean obviously not on lions tigers and bears but animals at all stages of life including ourselves get buffering of stress it reduces your stress to have a companion with you a friendly companion with you and one feels it oneself right in your daily life if you have to go and do something stressful it's much nicer if you can bring a buddy along so it seems that the friendship these three found in each other helped them through the tough early days and over time it developed into a wonderfully close lifelong bond the need to find a friend no matter who they are is clearly a very strong instinct you can see it in animals that have been brought together by captivity particularly if they're very young just like this baby chimpanzee who's found a companion in a puma cub and there's one factor that always seems to be involved in their everyday lives play so why is that is play a crucial part of what creates these cross species bonds to find out I've traveled to South Africa just outside the coastal town of Port Elizabeth to meet a couple of animal friends who just want to play all the time this is Hugo the Bulldog and his friend Igor the lion cub that hand raised in this Safari Park they formed a very close bond and their favorite activity is a bit of rough and tumble [Music] Hugo is classic you are a happy dog to help me understand how play works between different species I talk to animal behavior experts dr. Linda sharp from the University of Stellenbosch here in South Africa play signals are fairly universal in that they tend to be all things like rolling on your back hips making yourself vulnerable the very reverse of aggression so so even if it's two completely different species they'll be able to read each other's body language if someone is rolling on it giggling you can see that so all these species tend to have the play signals that initiate play tend to be the absolute reverse of how they would behave when they're being aggressive this might help to explain an example of play between two very different species that became an internet sensation with over 11 million hits in Canada polar bears one of the most fearsome predators on earth have been witnessed playing together with Huskies in the most surprisingly affectionate way the Huskies are tethered at their home base in Manitoba and these wild polar bears are waiting for the winter eyes to return to this stretch of coastline [Music] the Huskies should by all accounts be an easy snack but the polar bears are clearly not hungry which frees them up to play [Music] but that doesn't really explain why they would choose to do this so why does play seem so vitally important even when it's with the different species the unusual thing about plays that the behaviors that are incorporated into play are all flight and fright behaviors you know there's some all excitement there are things that really hype you up and so one theory is that play you're activating you're doing this exciting activity that's just a little bit dangerous you know just a little bit you know you're pretending there's a predator after you or you're you know you're being overcome by this other Manimal who's fighting you and so there's this little mission of excitement and stress it's these little peaks of mild stress in safe circumstances that Linda believes help prepare animals for the challenges of life and playing with a different species adds to the thrill of the unknown when a young animal is stressed it alters its sensitivity to stress so next time the stuff is a trauma it doesn't get as stressed yeah it doesn't respond severely recovers quicker it's not traumatized as much especially if it's a different species that normally you'd run from but you're playing with you might get an added extra bit of stress that you then get sort of situated to and that helps you in future life so Linda believes that these polar bears and Huskies are getting more of a thrill from playing together than they might do playing with their own species and this potentially helps their bodies to cope with more dangerous situations stress in small doses it's clearly beneficial but too much can be dangerous I've traveled across South Africa to a secret location to meet an animal that's so reliant on its friends it will die without them this is a cross species friendship that's not only saving lives it's helping to save an entire species rhinos in Africa are in crisis they're being slaughtered at an alarming rate for their horns because they're prized by the Asian medicine trade despite the fact that they have absolutely no medicinal value whatsoever now in South Africa last year alone 688 rhino were killed and that's tragic enough in itself but it gets worse because it's led to an unprecedented number of orphaned traumatized calves like these two now if they're very very lucky they get to come to a place like this heavily-guarded it's a relative safe haven where rhinos are brought to help reduce the risk of poaching but they've also discovered that cross species relationships can help save the Rhino orphans they receive this is all because young rhinos are surprisingly fragile [Music] the closest Winer relationship is the one between a calf and its mother it's totally dependent on her for up to two years so an orphaned calf needs a lot of care not only that but they just don't do well if left alone dr. Jana Pretorius is a specialist wildlife vet who looks after the little ones Siana how old are these cars Ella is about 15 months I mean Benjamin is about seven months and are they both orphaned from poaching yes they are unfortunately so you pair them together and this is everything they need to have a good chance of survival and then ultimately four we release into the wild right preferably when they are orphaned they need to have a companion yeah cuz the stress of being alone will kill them large doses of the stress hormone cortisol can be a serious problem for rhinos the gland that produces cortisol produces so much cortisol it can't produce anymore so the body can't cope with stress anymore together with the stomach ulcers then they normally do end up dying so if the rhino calf can't be paired with another orphan calf then is it best for a human to take care of it or is that a bad idea like what what can you do it is in a way a bad idea because humans can't stay with them all the time in the moment for example human has to go away or a sick and you have to use or somebody else needs to look after him just that stress of somebody else being there is already quite bad whereas with animals it's slightly different you can always have the animal with them or maybe more than one when you talk about putting them with other animals what animals do you put them with and why the base would be something like a sheep or a fold because they also graze and you want the riders to learn to graze from a young age [Music] if there was humans and for example dogs they end up not wanting to graze and we have seen that whether actually we'll eat dog food but won't eat gross so you put them with a sheep and how close does this bond become and what is it about that bond that makes these animals de-stress and give them a better chance of survival it's purely the companionship of not being alone when they learn they uncertain they can't see well they're very insecure animals that the calves you wouldn't think of her owners being timid but no especially the white rhino they're very timid I find rhino bums amazing they're just so fat and gorgeous with a little dinky tail amazing I think with the careful introduction of a close companion precious rhino lives are being saved but could such a deep bond ever develop between different species without our encouragement I've traveled to the west coast of Canada just outside the town of Courtney on Vancouver Island because I've heard about the most endearing relationship between two different species that came about purely of their own choice many companionships between different species develop because of captivity circumstances essentially bringing animals together who normally wouldn't keep each other company but here on this tiny little corner of Vancouver Island two animals have been hanging out together for years and they're both free to come and go as they please Pippen is a wild black tailed deer who's formed an incredibly close bond with Kate the Great Dane that lives in this house Pippen leads a wild existence coming and going as she pleases so I've been told the only way she might approach the house while I'm around is if I hide inside [Music] five years ago Kate's owner Isabel spring it discovered Pippen in the woods when she was just a tiny newborn form she left her there hoping her mother would come back and find her but it didn't quite work out that way the next day I started hearing the crying and that went on for three days so that was it I thought this is crazy I'm taking her in and I'd the only reason I put her on the dog's bed is because it was the only spot to put her and Kate took along one look at her and that was it it was thank you no take over now this is a film Isabel took of those early days together there is this maternal behavior going on oh yeah definitely yeah she'd never had puppies when it comes to little things she's maternal but did Kate ever so no no she had nothing to suckle with but she would try really old boy did she tried and tried to suck up Kate would stand there and she'd be bunting and bunting about and pate was so patient she never told her off really no no and we'd be getting the bottle ready and she would be bunting inside nothing you know okay I'm just gonna take her she just humped her back and stand there and so at what point did Pippin begin to sort of get back to the wilds would you say two weeks old yeah two weeks on two weeks old yeah at two weeks she insisted on sleeping in the woods on her own at night then we thought well if something eats her that's just the way it's going to go we can't interfere no wood case ever follow her into the woods oh yes yeah Kate with four sometimes she'd watch her going [Music] he's gone [Music] then she never left Kate did she I mean Chilton disappear forever oh no she'd come back every day every day every single - every single day so how long did this maternal behavior carry on probably until Pitt was about six months old and then it start of turned into a friendship playtime buddy thing the older pip got the more they would play like friends it's nothing like I've ever seen before it was he's not like a dog and a dog wasn't like a deer in a deer playing Kate toned down the aggression a little bit with the play he wasn't you know she would be more aggressive playing with another dog but with Pippin Jews were careful and Pippin seemed to be a little more rough than I've seen a deer opee so it was two different species compromising they would smack into each other and run and leap but do their neck twirls and lick and it's really funny to watch how old are these two now how long have they known each other ah five years yeah and I think pips had one two years ago seven fawns now Pippin spends the majority of her time with the wild herd but she returns to the area surrounding the house each year to give birth to her forms you know the beginning of their relationship was a maternal nurturing sort of now it's like old friends and now it's like old friends what makes you think that the way they greet each other they don't greet each other like hey you know what they greet each other like you would a really good old friend that you see quite often and just how you doing and and just hang out you don't even have to talk do they play still or how do they play they they're too mature for that now yeah pips a mom she doesn't play but now all they do now is they walk up maybe do a little nuzzle Kate will lick pip lobster lick Kate and they they just hang for a few minutes and then they'll flop down in the shade together just hang and how long will PIP and stay with case at any one time she can be here for three or four hours sometimes just she'll come into right into here and sleep on one of the dog bed Switzer sometimes you know even if we were gone for five years and came back they would greet each other as old friends and it would be the same yeah this is a lifelong bond formed from a maternal instinct that developed and was cemented by years of playing and spending time together the relationship between Kate and Pippen is remarkable two animals seeking each other out to spend time together without the constraints that are often made by man and to me that makes this animal friendship far more compelling than in captive situations so far I've met many different animal friends that have found each other through their unusual circumstances be they in captivity or in the wild and it's clear how important play and close interactions can be from maintaining those bombs and even for keeping an animal alive but hearing how Kate looked after Pippin when she was a tiny form introduces another important reason for animals of different species to come together the mothering instinct on the next step of my journey I'm going to investigate stories of misplaced mothering that defy belief incidents of predators ignoring their hunting instincts and instead caring for young animals that should be their preys but first I'm going to the south of the USA to Mountain Home Arkansas and a Wildlife Refuge that's home to a remarkable supermum this refuge takes on many abandoned animals in need and it's run by a devoted carer named Janice [Music] but it's her capybara cheesecake who's the star of the show she may be the world's largest species of rodent but she's also an excellent foster mum to a litter of puppies so how did this scenario arise Janice I mean this capybara is surrounded by I don't know how many puppies I've lost count yes that's just one day I had a litter of orphaned puppies that were ready to move out of the house and this was the most secure pen for a little puppy and I knew she was social with other animals and she took right to it and she's had every litter since and so how many niches has she has well this year alone she's on number four and then there's another one coming up throwing so so you guess unfortunately a lot of puppies given to you from abandoned litters I rescue a lot of pregnant mamas or Mamas that just have given birth that are in dire straits and nowhere to go and it's one of the specialties I do special needs animals it's an unfortunate situation but when you say that the capybara mother is these pups what do you mean she sleeps with them she she eats with them Michelle she'll they they'll play with her they'll groom her and she seems to enjoy it I think she just has kind of that or around her that makes him feel safe and secure cheesecake has never had her own young but being a capybara she knows exactly what to do with this lot in the wild capybara helped to look after each other's young sharing the parenting duties and what she's demonstrating is just how powerful that mothering instinct is so perhaps cheesecake here in this captive situation has become such an excellent foster mother because her natural instincts to take care of little ones have kicked in and I'm taking that one home should you know that don't the mothering instinct may come easily to plant eating supermom like the capybara but can it explain why a predator would choose to mother what would normally be its prey in Ireland just outside the town of Clara County Offaly lives a young couple with the most remarkable story to tell Ronan and Emma lolly owned a small farm that they run alongside their day jobs [Music] they have a lovely collection of animals but wanted some ducks to complete the picture so they got in some fertilized eggs on that day they hatched Ronen went to check on them but couldn't find the ducklings in the barn within seconds of that a catch on down from a pigeon hole within the shared over there and say I kind of put one and one together and I just presume that there the cat had swallowed up the ducklings at this stage they were missing for about six hours so Roland thought there was no hope at all after searching around the farm they eventually found the ducklings but unfortunately the cat della had got there first I ended up catching their cash with a duck in her mouth at this stage and it really looked Ron and was like she's going to kill the dog thinking oh no we're only after getting the back and now he's gonna eat them right in front of us then Emma noticed something unusual I was like groaning she's not actually forcefully holding this duck that's when the amazing thing happened we put there the cat down and put the ducklings down and then all of a sudden the tree ducklings waddled straight underneath the cat the cat lay down in her sight put her paw over one of the ducklings and was kind of nursing the duckling in towards us so we were I mean just absolutely blown away with this his normally cats would eat through the small birds but it was after it was all just it was awesome it's just incredible to see it she was very content at this stage she was / and she was really loving towards the Docklands when I was patting her down and I know it was that she actually had given birth to three kittens only within an hour or so beforehand it was a very lucky coincidence for the ducklings that the cat found them just after giving birth herself for a narrow window of a couple of hours mothering hormones will have been coursing through her body causing her to love and nurture any small warm furry creature she found next to her I have no doubt whatsoever that the cat was thinking dinner if she had a seen them either maybe a couple of hours before or a couple of hours after I have no doubt tissue would've put the napkin around her neck knife and fork salt and pepper the whole lot but it was when they came to move the unusual family into a safer spot that they got an even greater surprise as soon as we lifted off the cat that's when we were totally amazed because the ducklings were actually latched on to their to the cat's nipple so they were hanging from her yeah it was very very bizarre when we seen them breastfeed and we just thought oh my god there's something very very strange happening here and some very strange it also something very unique you know duck mums don't produce milk and ducklings are born ready to find their own food and water from their surroundings so to see them suckling a cat is extraordinary experts can only guess that their natural foraging instinct calls them to come upon the milk as an unexpected food source and their desire for warmth and comfort kept them close to their foster mother Ronan was keen to separate the Ducks fearful the cat's predatory instincts might kick back in but Emma being a midwife recognized something that she regularly sees at work there was just so much love there you know and like I see it every day in the labor ward they just want to hold them baby so tight and close it's a moment that just lasts forever and I could see that happening with the cat and and the Ducks it just took me a while to convince Ronan because this one they're just so in love they're just the long each other like you can't break this bond it's amazing before long the duckling started to outgrow the kittens and gain their independence something the cat wasn't so happy with these dogs her yellow kittens were a lot more active and she found it hard to control them she was trying to bring him back on delecia and say no be goodbye here brothers and sisters several weeks later the kittens are still small and the Ducks although independent still have an attachment to their surrogate mum so it would seem that this rare coincidence of a cat giving birth just as the ducklings were making their first steps into the world resulted in this remarkable situation filled with an instinct of mother small furry creatures the cat ignored any natural urge to eat the ducklings and took them on as her own [Music] now it could be argued that all of this only happened because it was a domestic situation with animals that were unusually close to each other but there are other examples that suggest the mothering instinct is so strong this can even happen in the wild a few years ago the most surprising example of misplaced mothering took place in Kenya the story of this lioness and Oryx has an unhappy ending but not for the reason you might think a newborn Oryx surely just minutes from being this Lions next meal but to the complete amazement of the Rangers who are monitoring the situation the lioness didn't try to eat it instead she cared for it as if it were her own young just like the cat with her ducklings a strong instinct to protect and nurture was overriding the predatory instinct to kill it many theories were put forward as to why she was behaving in this way and the consensus was that she was a young lioness who'd gone through some kind of traumatic experience involving being separated from her pride and as a result her mental state had led her to want to nurture this calf in some way but unfortunately the relationship came to a sudden end when the lioness took her eye off the calf for just a few moments a male lion pounced and killed it [Music] witnesses described her behavior as exactly that of a lioness who had lost her cubs heartbreaking to watch [Music] everyone thought that was the end of the story but the lioness went on to adopt not one but five more Oryx calves now none of the relationships lasted as long as the first one but this continuing fixation points to a traumatized animal desperate to nurture even if the yelling question isn't her own species the lioness was always going to struggle to keep the calves alive especially as she wasn't able to feed them but there is an example of cross-species mothering I've read about that caused a real stir in the scientific community because not only was it in the wild but it was long lasting I've traveled to South Paulo in Brazil to find out what happened these little fellows are called marmoset they're one of the world's smallest monkeys I mean this is it they get this big when they're fully grown is it even conceivable to think that one of these could be adopted by a completely different species out in the wild they are so absurdly cute I mean what animal wouldn't want to adopt them and one group of scientists discovered exactly that it occurred in a forest reserve in the heart of Brazil between a baby marmoset and a group of capuchin monkeys [Music] I meet up with professor Patricia Azhar one of the scientists who witnessed this rare event the only long-term cross species bothering that's ever been documented in the wild when the marmosets they encounter the Capuchin usually they go away they are afraid of the capuchins they hunt for small mammals small rodents and marsupials and even small primates so they've been known to eat little marmoset or - okay which makes this entire episode which you were privy to even more unusual yeah suddenly one day the female appeared with a very very tiny marmoset probably days old she was carrying the marmoset as if she was she was carrying her own baby this in itself was extremely unusual but what happened next almost certainly saved the marmosets life the Capuchin allowed the baby marmoset to breastfeed she was here with her mouth and the capuchins neighborhood we couldn't tell for sure that she was certainly but she was in that position several times a day as a baby Capuchin and she would do with the marmoset mother and she survived what did you think when you first saw that that for us was really really amazing that's unheard of it's completely unique this case completely unique yes yes over the coming months the marmoset became very much part of the group but there were some differences in the way she was treated how does it manage to integrate into a group that's essentially very different in its behavior in psychology anything perfectly yes in fact the dominant male sometimes we saw that he was treating her more or less like we treats our pets so is this possible can animals other than humans keep pets Patricia has some footage that sheds more light on the relationship she just looks like one of the pebbles they used to crack the nuts she's that small I'm surprised he didn't just wash her by accident I mean she's so tiny packing a nut is she gonna go in for some yes and he's is he gonna allow her yes see see the persimmon dishes he's fine with her why do you think he's so relaxed because I think she's so tiny tiny tiny if he doesn't see her as a competition he's watched he's watched her take some of the night that's okay it's just it's adorable to watch it in action isn't it okay and he let her you know he's not stupid he wouldn't let her do it if he didn't want her to so is she like he's a little toy she just can't have it okay but just let her get away with murder compared to the other accomplices you know a wild animal keeping another species as a pet is unheard of and would be a hugely significant discovery great two years as well by the by these are very clever monkey there's no question tool use was once considered a uniquely human activity so could pet keeping the another behavior that we share with other animals we'll never know in this case as sadly the marmoset disappeared after 14 months maybe a predator got her or perhaps she joined another group of marmosets but it does make me wonder if there are any other examples of animals that might keep pets and if this could be another reason for different species to hang out with each other I've tracked down another unusual friendship from a clip I've seen on the Internet it might just be an example of pet keeping in animals and one that I can visit for myself the animals in question live on the east coast of the US near the tourist resort of Myrtle Beach in South Carolina to track them down I've headed away from the crowds to a quiet suburb on the banks of an inland river system [Music] here an animal trainer named Doc antal runs a wildlife safari park with an exotic collection of animals that includes a hound named Roscoe and an orangutan named Hanuman that appears to be treating the dog like a pet doc is currently training Hanuman to take Roscoe for a walk but Hanuman seems to be taking it a step further kind of hold on to you for security that you're the tree at the moment I can be a tree how long has Hanuman and Roscoe known each other they've known each other for the last seven years now and how did it all begin because it is a bit of an odd couple isn't it they are an odd couple they met each other by time that they spend down on the river doc often takes his elephant and some of the orangutangs down to the river to cool off and have some fun in the water but on one occasion back in 2006 they came across a stray hound dog on their route one of the orangs surya jumped down and started playing with the hound and they instantly hit it off before long all the orangs were playing and the dog had a new group of friends they then grabbed each other and play and pet and start being kids goofing around on the water and it just engaged them and they thought that he was a fabulous guy at the end of the day doc headed back hoping the stray dog would find its own way home but the hound who they later named Roscoe had other ideas the dog had made his way in to the secure gated area and he was there with them and they have a sub constant supply of food there in water they put out the water for him and they also started taking monkey biscuits they started taking monkey biscuits and handing him monkey biscuits and Roscoe was in that state of really hunger and he ate everything they would give him until he was looked like he'd swallowed a basketball dogs have evolved to be excellent pets and for the orangs to be feeding and caring for Roscoe suggests they may have been treating him like one but can that really be the case if so that is extraordinary now we still think to this day I think that humans are the only animals that keep pets but you know these orangutangs are very closely related to us they're great apes as well do you think it's even possible they think of Roscoe as a pet I think that it is like a boy and his dog says I've got my pet dog we'll go out we'll play fetch we have an incredible time together I love my dog now I'm drifting off I'm with my parents I it's time for dinner I'm gonna go play baseball and the dog becomes very secondary I think it's more like that they love him at the moment I don't think they pine away for him or wonder where he is or miss him like you might see adult humans doing to a dog where they becomes really emotionally attached [Music] pet keeping can be defined as looking after an animal of another species with a level of care and affection primarily for reasons of pleasure at a very significant part of that care is of course feeding them whose is this what's that do you want that yes you want it do another one you want to give it to Roscoe no does he want it look he wants it you know he wants it yeah you knew see he decided he wanted to do it that way though today Hanneman hangs out with Roscoe whenever he can and they seem to have a real level of affection for each other they even go swimming together Hanuman is only one of two apes in the whole world that can swim like this now both Hanuman and Roscoe are obviously trained so I wonder how much that affects what I'm seeing to get a scientific perspective on their relationship I brought along professor Hal Hertz on an animal behaviorist who's been investigating pet keeping in humans and other animals from many years see eyes wide open a couple of bubbles out of the mouth happily swimming in the pool I've never seen that of you how what do you make of this relationship you've what you've watched the orangutan and a dog what do you well there's a couple of relationships going on the relationship is with the orangutan the dog is absolutely stunning yeah and it's very clear that they would a deep relationship but I think it impressed me the most was food sharing was the orangutan being perfectly happy taking orangutan chow not dog food it was monkey chow it was monkey chow - for sure and giving it to Roscoe this time so what do you think that means that a great ape would share food with a completely different species what do you think is going on it's in its head I think to some extent it means that the great ape is recognizing the existence of the dog as a in a way a like-minded creature is treating it like a like-minded creature just the way we would a dog or a cat in our lives do you think we can call this pet keeping what do you think I think I think the relationship that those guys have would fall into my definition of pet keeping really yes you just say that is a big deal it is a big deal but the thing that's interesting for me is that these relationships don't seem to exist outside human agency and maybe the biggest part of the human agency is being having a full stomach how believes that in the wild animals are too busy finding food and avoiding predators to have the time to devote to another animal in the way we might look after a pest I argue that humans are the only animals that keep yes yes although you do see the rudiments of the motivation and other animals and to me what what the orangutan here is doing is is exemplifying that that the rudiments of the urge to keep pets are right here in South Carolina this is the perfect storm here you've got a human being doc who's understands animals at a very very deep level you've got this ideal situation where there's plenty of food and what this shows is it great apes and probably a lot of other animals are capable of deeply loving members of another species but yet they don't seem to do it in the real world as far as I know with one exception it was a case in Brazil where a group of primatologist discovered a troop of capuchin monkeys and they adopted a two month old marmoset no the case is yeah it's absolutely fascinating and and so what did to me this does have the elements that you see in human kind keeping is that the relationship is one of fondness they're not getting anything out of it they were feeding the creature they liked it that much and protecting it but the other thing is it was long lasting to me it's the closest thing to what I would call human pecking but the thing is it's it's one case of the mill of ours that primatologists have been yeah spent with their glasses you know and yeah looking at reason it's the only case the fact that the potential for pet keeping exists in animals other than ourselves is revolutionary but it's also forcing scientists like how to rethink what they know about animal minds and that's what's been so fascinating about the journey I've been on by looking at some of the most extreme unusual and surprising animal friendships we can gain a better understanding of the powerful instincts and needs that motivate all animals drives that are so strong they can sometimes cross the species divide [Music] but there is one last pairing that truly challenges what science knows about animal relationships and that's because it involves a question of animal attraction and possibly even love and to witness this Odd Couple I'm visiting a safari park in South Africa not far from Pretoria to meet a kudu a species of antelope named Charles he's a fine specimen Charles is a male kudu and he belongs to a wild herd here in this reserve in South Africa now in a kudu heard only the dominant male breeds at any one time and the rest the males dispersed into bachelor herds or they become solitary kudos until they get the chance to usurp the alpha male and grab the throne and Charles is one of these solitary males for now at least he spies offense however this hasn't curbed Charles's desire to find a mate and in a neighboring reserve lives a female he's taken a fancy to when Charles was almost a year old he began keeping company with a female he probably shouldn't be seeking out in the first place and the only way he could reach her was by jumping this fence the fact that these animals can jump a fence this high without taking a running jump it's pretty impressive it also does show quite a bit of commitment for his lady lover he's definitely on a mission [Music] now ever since he's followed her around he's been hanging out with her and the Rangers have called this v-mail Camilla now just last week for the first time ever Charles tried to mate with Camilla and it wasn't successful to say the least because Camilla happens to be a giraffe I've heard that Charles has jumped the fence into the reserve so if I'm lucky I'll get to see them together there he is there's Charles and he is coming down the hill [Music] [Music] when they meet they do seem to prefer spending time with each other rather than the other animals in the area and it certainly looks like Charles and Camilla are more than just good friends [Music] Charles and Camilla started hanging out when they were juveniles so that does point to a relationship based on attachment hormones companionship but then it did turn into something a lot more primal now in the wild some animals have been known to be attracted to females from another species that resemble a fatter healthier more fecund version of their own species but when you look at this kudu and this giraffe it's kind of pushing that theory to the extremes unless so is this a rare anomaly or is it just that we haven't been able to understand this kind of behavior yet either way I love this story because it just goes to show how much we still need to learn about the animal kingdom [Music] she's following him guys she's actually following him really nice end to the story [Music]

Channel: Pets & Vets

Views: 2,675,846

Rating: 4.6781335 out of 5

Keywords: Animals, Cute Animals, Lion cub, Bulldog, Animal Documentary, Animal Friends, Animal Adventures, Adventures, nature documentaries, cute cub, Liz Bonnin, lion tiger and bulldog, bulldog lion, bulldog and lion cub, animal frienships, animal friends, unusual animal friends, pet life, pet lion, pet bull dog, wild life documentary, wild animals, kids educational vids, kids education, complex emotions, animal odd couples, animal relations, lion and dog friends

Id: -evijx5cX2k

Length: 57min 54sec (3474 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 24 2019