Charlie and Makhosi are best friends.

They were both orphaned at only a few days old and that became their strong bond.

And now they both stay at a rhino orphanage at the Zululand Rhino Orphanage in South Africa.

The caretakers at the orphanage believe this happened during the drought season and their mothers were not able to properly feed the orphans.

They decided to introduce Charlie and Makhosi to each other because they were both looking for comfort.

Since the first couple of months of their lives is usually spent attached to their mothers, they were missing the warmth and care only their moms could provide.

Thankfully, they could comfort each other.

Did we mention they’re different species?

Yes, Charlie is a hippo while Makhosi is a rhino.

They were inseparable from the time they were introduced to each other.

They did everything together, including napping and cuddling with each other.

And they helped each other to grow stronger especially since the orphanage’s goal is to reintroduce them to the wild.

There was a problem though.

Since Charlie is a hippo living in a rhino orphanage, he believes he is also a rhino.

He does everything a rhino does and he has no idea how to live like a hippo. He doesn’t even like water.

This is going to be a big dilemma especially if Charlie is going back to the wild.

They feared that if Charlie doesn’t learn hippo behavior, they might never be able to release him.

What could they do?

They needed to find another hippo that Charlie could learn from, but it wasn’t going to be easy.

There aren’t a lot of hippo orphans they can rescue.

That’s not such bad news though since it means there aren’t a lot of hippos killed by poachers (there are a lot of rhino orphans though).

It’s just going to be tougher for Charlie who still hasn’t been exposed to a single hippo.

Then, one day, they received a call that there was another baby hippo who needed shelter.

The baby hippo came from a thousand kilometers away. They drove over 20 hours to pick her up and bring her to Zululand Rhino Orphanage.

It was the right move.

Oh, it was worth the long trip and long drive.

Moomin was worth it but they didn’t feel that at first.

They were so nervous.

The orphanage staff had no idea how Charlie or Moomin would react to each other.

Will they like each other? Will they hate each other?

Turns out their worries weren’t necessary.

Within three days, the hippos loved each other.

Moomin loves Charlie. In fact, she has become possessive of him. She gets angry when anyone pays attention to Charlie because she wants Charlie for herself.

Moomin has become the orphanage’s savior because she has taught Charlie how it is to be a hippo, including loving water and night grazing.

Of course, Charlie has never forgotten his best friend, Makhosi, and continues to spend time and play with Makhosi.

See Charlie, Makhosi, and Moomin become fast friends in the adorable video below!

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Source: YouTube – The Dodo