Baby cow loses its leg but finds unlikely friend in a giant tortoise
It sounds like the plot to a children’s storybook, but this friendship is completely real.
When Simon the cow and his mother got trapped in some vines in rural Thailand, things looked dire.
They thought they would never be able to escape. Luckily, some rescue workers at Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) found them, and they were rescued.
But the rescue workers saw that there was something wrong with Simon. One of his hind legs was terribly injured.
The vet said that there was no other thing to do but amputate the leg. They attached a prosthetic leg onto Simon. But he would never be as fast as other cows.
Simon and his mother stayed in an enclosure at the WFFT sanctuary on what was supposed to be a temporary basis.
When Simon had recovered, they were supposed to live on a field at the sanctuary with other cows.
But while Simon was staying in the enclosure, something strange happened.
A range of other animals were living in the enclosure. One of them was an African spurred tortoise named Leonardo.
He had been rescued from a Bangkok Zoo when it closed. And somehow, Leonardo could empathize with Simon the three-legged calf.
The two spent more and more time together in the enclosure. In no time at all, the two became completely inseparable, spending all day together.
In fact, Simon and Leonardo even share meals and nap together.
The staff members had never seen anything like it. It needs no saying, but tortoises and cows usually do not become friends. But these two have!
Simon and Leonardo will both stay in the enclosure. Their friendship is making the animals very happy, so the rescue workers see no benefit in splitting them up.
Has Simon’s injury made him bond with Leonardo? Since Simon lost his leg, he has been much slower. Perhaps Simon can appreciate Leonardo as another animal that walks at a slow pace.
This story sounds amazing, but in some ways, it is normal for Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand. Fittingly for an organization with “Friends” in its title, many animals at the sanctuary become firm friends.
For instance, the charity has also shared the bond that Jo Jo the long-tailed macaque and Alan the stray cat have formed. Strangely, Alan wasn’t rescued by the organization.
Instead, he showed up in the sanctuary’s macaque field, and Jo Jo became obsessed with him. Usually, the sanctuary workers would remove the cat. But when they saw how attached Jo Jo had become to Alan, they decided to let the cat stay with him.
What is it that makes the animals of Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand form such strong interspecies bonds?
Perhaps they are learning from the care that the humans at the sanctuary give them? Or perhaps their lives before they got rescued have made them more sympathetic to other animals that arrive at the sanctuary? No one knows for sure. But there’s one thing that’s clear: it’s incredibly heartwarming!
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