By: Dabria Yiong | Edited by: Lisa Foo
What are friends? Are friendships born out of an immediate need for companionship, or is it an instantaneous non-opportunistic connection between two parties? This International Friendship Day, we would like to explore the curious friendship that exists between animals of different species.
The 2015 Budweiser Super Bowl advertisement, Lost Dog, is an all-time favourite that features a touching friendship between a Labrador and the iconic Budweiser Clydesdale. One of Budweiser's best Super Bowl advertisements, it is regularly used as a case study for communication and advertising students as it effortlessly stirs the hearts of many, leaving them sniffling.
With that, the question must be asked — what is it about interspecies friendships that melts the hearts of humans?
Perhaps it is the improbability of these animals coming together, or bundles of fluff floofing together. Regardless, did you know that most of these friendships were born out of pessimistic situations? By running through the different theories for these wholesome relationships, you will have a better understanding about friendships that may very well be a lesson and/or an opportunity for reflection.
A Human Controlled Environment
Try recalling some examples of interspecies friendships. A quick search on YouTube will give you a truckload of videos showcasing friendships that exist in a human controlled environment, usually a domesticated one. Ranging from Safi the dog and Wister the donkey to Sir Newton the Racoon and Ferngully the Fox, such homely environments cause wild animals to lose their aggression and allow these improbable friendships to blossom.
As heartwarming as these stories are, this is not the case for other friendships.
Meet Timur the billy goat and Amur the Siberian tiger. This was one of the oddest duos, especially considering how Timur was left in Amur's enclosure in the Russian safari zoo as a live prey. As the two played, ate and slept in the same space, the world gazed in amazement as a predator and prey lived harmoniously. That said, the facts behind this friendship may be more grim.
Having been living in an enclosure, Amur was well-fed and had these necessities served to him. As such, when Timur was placed in Amur's enclosure, Amur was more lonely than he was hungry. As theorised by Gordon Burghardt, a psychologist and ecologist from the University of Tennessee, Amur's motivation and yearning for play and mental stimulation was higher in his hierarchy of needs. This explains why most unconventional friendships occur between animals in captivity.
Social Development
Before learning that they are meant to hunt, and before acting on their natural instinct to tackle another animal, interspecies friendships are usually formed at a young age. In fact, research has shown that certain animals and birds started following the first moving thing they saw.
Rescued as cubs in 2001, Baloo the bear, Leo the lion and Shere Khan the tiger became the popular 'BLT' (Bear, Lion, Tiger) trio. Found in the basement of a drug dealer in Atlanta, Baloo, Leon and Shere Khan suffered wounds and other physical trauma that caused the three of them to cling on to each other for support. After being transferred to Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary, the animals continued to cuddle and play with one another. Though such close bonds between younglings were not uncommon, it was to their caretakers' amazement to see the trio remain as adult friends. While it is unclear if the friendship between Baloo, Leon and Shere Khan was born out of their traumatic shared experience, their exposure to one another when they were cubs, or a mixture of both, social development has a big role to play when it comes to interspecies friendships.
Friends Forever, Forever Friends?
Rounding up this article, interspecies friendships are still a curious and puzzling topic. Whether these animals became friends naturally or out of a given circumstance, it is important to note that similar to human friendships, one cannot overstep.
Revisiting the friendships between Timur and Amur, over time, the playful billy goat started challenging Amur. After stepping on Amur, either intentionally or by accident, Timur was thrown down a hillock by Amur who lost his patience. While Timur survived the fall, his health started to deteriorate which led to his death of natural causes in 2019, concluding the friendship of five years.
It is without a doubt that the world will get to see more of such unlikely friendships. As we humans wait in anticipation, from everyone at The Animal Welfare Station, Happy International Friendship Day! Human or non-human, remember to show your friends some appreciation and love!
WordPress.com
No comments:
Post a Comment