~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Touching moment herd of horses adopt a penguin after the bird became separated from its group and began to play with them
Nuzzling up together on the frosty ground in the Falkland Islands, this might seem like the most unlikely of friendships. But this herd of horses took in a lonely penguin as one of their own and snuggled up with their curious new companion.
They were also seen playfully chasing after the bird as it stretched out its wings and waddled along the white-topped turf. The horses also craned their necks and touched their noses with the penguin's beak in the heart-warming snaps.
In a scene that could come straight from a Disney movie, the horse rears his neck to catch a closer look of his new found friend
Photographer Sarah Crofts said: 'At first I couldn't believe what I was seeing, I think the horses were as shocked as I was.
'I didn't think the horses would take much notice of the penguin but I couldn't believe how fascinated they were with it. I'm really enthusiastic about horses and penguins so it was an incredible moment to witness.
'Horses in Stanley don't normally have contact with penguin so it must have been a real novelty for them.
'At first the herd approached the penguin slowly and with their heads low so they could check him out at eye level.
'But it didn't take long for the horses to become braver and soon they were nose to beak, it was such a lovely moment.
She added: 'The horses were genuinely curious about the penguin and it seemed to turn into a game for them where they'd check him out one by one and then run off.
'After a while it was as if the horses didn't want to let the penguins out of their sights.'
The Falklands is one of the world's great penguin capitals. There are five penguin species on the islands, including king, rockhopper, magellanic, gentoo and macaroni penguins.
Around 500,000 breeding pairs of penguins live on the island, home to a rich array of wildlife.
Source
RELATED
See beautiful pictures of the Camargue horses at full gallop
More stories of animal friendships on this blog
*************************************************************************
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for visiting my blog. Your comments are always appreciated, but please do not include links.