A mother's love is infinite and does not stop in the face of races or species. This is what the story of a mother dolphin, spotted while she takes care of a baby of another species, orphaned, shows us.
Dolphin mothers take care of their young by breastfeeding, protecting and playing with them until the age of 6. In this case the mother, although she had her own puppy, was spotted together with the "different dolphin" e the unusual trio often swam together. A very rare sight, considering that dolphin mothers usually take care of only one baby at a time.
Furthermore, "adopting" offspring of other species is not common among wild mammals. Bottlenose dolphins sometimes “steal” young of other species for short periods in the event of a conflict, but the mother's dedication proved that this was not a case of abduction.
For its part, the adopted cetacean was not only very willing to integrate into the family unit but also understood how to fit into the community of bottlenose dolphins and to do this imitated their behavior, for example socialized with other young people by joining their favorite pastime, "surfing" and playing with the waves.
However, there remains a big question: Why would a bottlenose dolphin care about raising a baby of another species? Scientists have tried to answer this question by believing that, probably, the concomitance with the birth of her own baby made the mother dolphin feel very strongly her maternal instincts. All this would therefore have taken place in a perfect moment to favor the unusual adoption.
The personality of the single dolphin mother, then, may have been another important factor, this specimen was in fact already known for its tolerance towards divers in the area. Finally, there is the great determination of the newcomer to be accepted by the community!
Whatever the reasons, once again the animal world has something to teach us ...
Read also:
- The "different" dolphin adopted by whales
- The sweet story of a mother duck adopting a possum in her nest
- A cat adopts four squirrel cubs and treats them as if they were her own
