How animals raise their young. Foster Parents of the Animal Kingdom

Do you know what all these animals have in common? They have a big heart! Not every day you can see a picture when a predator adopts and starts about a cub of a different kind, as if it were his own!

We have collected 22 examples of the most unusual compounds from the animal world. See photos and read stories below.

1. The mother of this tiny kangaroo died. And her four-month-old baby was saved and taken under guardianship by a ten-year-old German pointer. This case was recorded in the Australian Bels Beach Victoria.

2. Spaniel Jess bottle feeds orphaned lambs who can't get milk from their mom. “Under guardianship” of the dog are four lambs.


3. Dog breed Golden retriever a brood of abandoned rabbits came out.


4. In the wildlife park near Daventry (England), chimpanzee Anna is always actively involved in raising puppies.


5. In New Zealand, a cow became the mother of two newborn lambs.


6. In national park Queen Elizabeth in Uganda happened truly funny case. The lioness ate the antelope, and adopted her orphaned cub and took care of him like a native lion cub.


7. Dalmatian Zoya adopted and raised this lamb, left without a mother.


8. This cute kitten was raised and nursed by a pig, he grew up next to a brood of pigs in Norfolk (UK).


9. In one of the English rescue centers wildlife an abandoned roe deer came out the Great Dane Rocky.


10. Two-year-old chimpanzee “Do-Do” feeds milk to a 60-day-old tiger cub at the Thailand Zoo.


11. A female peacock accidentally mixed up her eggs, so her goslings hatched. The female did not refuse the chicks and took care of them as if they were her own.


12. Zara's (lion cub) parents at Linton Zoo in Cambridgeshire couldn't handle her upbringing, so she spent her childhood in the care of the zoo director's cat, Arnie, before she grew up and was sent to Uganda.


13. "Mom" Sai Mai (an eight-year-old tigress) from the zoo of Thailand is raising three piglets. Sai Mai sees piglets as her babies, not as breakfast.


14. On an Iowa farm, Henrietta the hen and Gertie the goose adopted three ducklings together.


15. Murray the dog is the guardian of three badgers in one of the reserves.


16. The owners of the Chestnut cat found and adopted a tiny sick squirrel. They could not even imagine that their pet would start taking care of the baby and leave him.


17. Dog Katinya, who lives on one of the German farms, became a mother for a bellied piglet. A tiny black pig named Paulinchen was so small at birth that his mother simply did not notice him. The dog produced milk after a few days and fed the piglet. She probably considers him one of her children now.


18. The rabbit raised a brood of abandoned kittens. The cubs were found and brought home by the owner of the female.


19. Tricolor collie Solo took care of young tigers and hyenas in Seaview Lion Park in South Africa.


20. Every time the mother of the puppies went away on business, Mabel the hen always pulled the kids closer to her basket.


21. Shepherd Laska instantly saw herself as a mother to two abandoned wild boar cubs, who were on the verge of death when they were found by the owner of Laska, in Hamburg (Germany). Ellis and Hackers were brought home, and Laska immediately took up the duties of a mother - she warmed them at night, licked them carefully and picked them up when they fell.


22. The cat Tita became a mother not only for her kitten, but also for this little squirrel, whom Tita's owner found weak in her yard.

In life practice, there are often cases when animals in captivity lose their natural landmarks and take on the upbringing of other people's cubs.

The artificial habitat of animals affects them so that females abandon newborns. In this case, they are taken care of by employees of the zoo, or a specialized park, or other animals.

Adoptions by animals

Adoption by animals is not uncommon, there are many known cases of such adoptions. So in several zoos you can see dogs that raise tiger cubs and lion cubs.

At the Taiyuan City Zoo, a dog adopted two little red pandas, and at Knowsley Safari Park, two dogs at once became fathers to an orphaned deer.

Monkeys are experienced nannies

The process of adoption in monkeys is very interesting. They are very good with cubs of all kinds of animals, whether they are puppies, kittens, rabbits, cubs or anyone else. The way a monkey will treat a baby is very individual and depends on the temperament of a particular individual. Some take care of the foundlings and do not allow others to offend them, while others treat adopted children like toys.

Often the loss of one's own child causes a monkey to adopt someone else's. There are those who can steal the baby from the parents.

In one of the centers for the protection of gorillas lives the gorilla Koko, who is called an experienced foster mother, because she went out more than one litter of abandoned kittens.

But it's not just mothers who are adopted. A male macaque from Bali has adopted an adorable ginger kitten.

Pigs and dogs are caring mothers

In a Thai zoo, a pig feeds a brood of tiger cubs.

This year, two Ussuri tiger cubs had to urgently find a nurse in the Sochi Zoo. For some reason, the real mother-tigress refused the cubs.

Cleopatra, a dog of the Shar-Pei breed, adopted the adoptees into her family. Striped kittens, along with puppies, are reinforced with milk, receive a share of the necessary caress and attention.

As you can see, such a touching adoption of animals by other species does not only happen in freedom.

The maternal instinct is quite strong in both humans and animals. History knows a lot real cases when animals raised or fed other people's cubs. Some animals and birds take advantage of this, for example, the cuckoo deliberately throws its eggs into the nests of other birds so that they feed its chicks. It is not surprising that the authors of books are also interested in this topic and create their own works about animals that did not raise their cubs. Let's consider some of them:

• R. Kipling "Mowgli".
• G.H. Andersen "The Ugly Duckling".
• D. Nepomnyashchaya "Mom for a mammoth".
• D. Seuss "Elephant Horton incubates an egg."
• E.G. Karganova "No one"

The story of Mowgli

This is an interesting and exciting story of how a family of wolves raised a human cub. The animals were so wise that they did not give the boy to be torn apart by a tiger. Mowgli grew up and thanked his foster parents for their care, protecting them from Shere Khan and the hunters. However, the call of blood was so strong that the young man left the pack and went to the people.

Tale of the ugly duckling

Describes the story of a cygnet that got into a duck's nest by mistake. The fate of the chick was not easy, because he was not like normal ducklings, he was considered ugly and stupid. Mother and father were ashamed of him. The ugly duckling wandered around the world until he met swans, his relatives. Only then did he know happiness.

Mom for a mammoth

A story written by Soviet authors about how a baby mammoth, miraculously surviving in Antarctica, was looking for his mother. And he found it in the face of a kind elephant who accepted him as her own. The main idea of ​​the fairy tale is that every child should have a mother, even if not related by blood, but loving and kind.

A poem about an elephant hatching a chick

A classic story about a frivolous bird that was too lazy to hatch its chick. Elephant Horton did it for her. He protected the egg from cold, rain and wind, endured inconvenience. During this time, he fell in love with the cub with all his heart and no longer wanted to part with him.

Nobody's

A story about a puppy that had no parents. And at first he liked it. You can do what you want and not be afraid of punishment. However, adult animals explained to the baby that everyone should be needed by someone. The kid was adopted by an old yard dog, which the puppy was very happy about.

Before writing a story, it is advisable to remember the basic rules for its compilation.

To compose a good text, you must come up with:

• Epigraph - a short quote from any work that fits the meaning of your story (The Jungle Book, Tarzan, etc.);
• Introduction - short description main idea the text that will be described or explained in the main part;
• The main part is a description of the development of events, which animals and how they raise not their cubs;
• Conclusion - a logical conclusion based on the story.

Don't forget the following:

• There is a separate paragraph for each thought;
• Write simple sentences- the fewer words it contains, the lower the risk of getting confused in temporary forms;
• If you don't know how a word is spelled, check it in a spelling dictionary.

Sample text "Alien among animals"

- IN wolf pack a human cub has appeared! Mowgli has arrived. Human.
- So what?
- Like what? Shame on the jungle!
- Why are you talking in vain?

From the Jungle Book

Different animals have different attitudes towards foreign cubs in their litter. This can be observed in fairy tales, the behavior of animals in zoos and wildlife.

From "The Ugly Duckling" everyone will learn how difficult it is sometimes to be a stranger among your own and joyfully return to the pack. When the differences become very obvious, the mother may refuse to raise the cubs. The Jungle Book is about how the wolves took Mowgli in and raised him like a wolf.

IN real life there are many examples of the amazing friendship of cats and dogs, when they were taught to be friends from childhood. A kitten could be thrown to a dog and she did not offend him, on the contrary, she took him for her own - fed, taught to walk, "washed", etc.

Once on TV they showed a story about how a dog feeds little lion cubs in the Crimean zoo, sleeps nearby. In Israel, there is a story about a monkey raising a chicken.

Most animals have a strong maternal instinct - they cannot refuse other people's cubs and raise them as their own. But adult "strangers" often return to their native flock and give birth to offspring there.

The cubs are concerned about their fate, but those in whom parental instincts are developed try to pass on their skills to their offspring. Most learn from their parents. It is the mother, and in some cases the father, who shows the babies how to chew grass or track down prey, how and when to hide, and when to fight.

Cubs go through a much-needed process of education and upbringing while playing with each other or with adults. Young animals in a friendly fight hone their combat skills, and a mother or father is able, grabbing a presumptuous offspring by the withers, to make him understand in what situations one should obey the elders and recognize the leadership of the leader.

An important factor in the process of upbringing becomes a separation from the mother. Some leave babies almost immediately after birth. As a rule, such animals have a large supply of fat, which allows the baby to survive the first weeks (for example, like this). Other females abandon their grown-up offspring gradually, every day going further and further to hunt, and one day finally leaving the cubs. This is the last maternal lesson - now the animals must learn to rely only on their own strength.

Not all mother animals are affectionate and attentive to their young. Some educate the younger generation with cuffs. Macaques are prone to such non-pedagogical methods. They scratch, bite and drag their babies by the fur. The most amazing thing is that monkeys that were mistreated as children will also raise their offspring. The same macaques, in whose families violence was not used, will not beat their own child.