Unlikely Animal Friends: Tarra and Bella
Our old friends Tarra, the elephant, and Bella, the dog, who bonded at an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee, are featured on Unlikely Animal Friends, a one-hour special that airs tonight at 8 on the National Geographic Channel.
The special asks the questions: Can animals really build friendships with other species, people, or even their own prey? How do these odd couples come to be? And what do they gain from these improbable companionships?
The answers come in video footage — some old, some new — that’s bound to warm your heart, and maybe provide a little hope: If mortal animal enemies can reach detente, peace, friendship even, maybe we humans could, too, if we really put our minds to it.
Other duos featured tonight are a baby hippo who chooses a giant tortoise as a surrogate parent, a lion who instantly recognizes two men a year after their last encounter, a cat and crow that have become inseparable, a dog and orangutan, and a lioness who turns down an easy kill in favor of nurturing when she comes across a baby oryx.
Though some of the couples have appeared on ohmidog! in the past, the National Geographic Channel examines the relationships in a lot more depth than the average YouTube video.
In case you miss it, we’ll be posting clips of each of the duos in the week ahead.
Posted by jwoestendiek September 26th, 2009 under Muttsblog, videos.
Tags: animals, bellla, cat and crow, christian, dog, elephant, friends, hippo and tortoise, lion, lioness, national geographic channel, orangutan, relationships, sanctuary, tarra, television, unlikely animal friends, unlikely friends, videos
