It was a friendship that lasted a lifetime.
The video made rounds on the internet about a dog and his giraffe best friend.
It started with The Rhino Orphanage.
They responded to a call by one of the local residents.
The nonprofit based in Limpopo province looked after the wildlife in the area and was deemed fit for the concern.
The said landowner asked for the organization’s assistance with a giraffe calf. The landowner shared that the calf was abandoned by its mother.
When the team got to the location, they saw a giraffe that was very weak and dehydrated. In their estimates, the calf was around 2-3 days old.
The concerned person said that they had no idea why the calf was left for dead.
But in the rules that govern the wild, one can’t help but think that there must be something wrong with the calf.
They administered medical treatments to the calf.
One of their veterinarians started feeding the giraffe with intravenous food. Upon observation, they noted that the giraffe was comatose for 18 hours.
But slowly, he was beginning to recover.
Jazz, as they called him, managed to stand up a few times. He wobbled over his legs but he still tried his best.
At this point, he needed all the support he can get, and he got it from the unlikeliest member of the team.
Hunter became her hero.
Hunter, the organization’s anti-poacher and security dog looked after Jazz.
In the series of posts and updates that the organization made, they shared how Hunter brought it upon himself to be Jazz’s guardian.
Hunter stayed in Jazz’s enclosure the whole day the first time they met. At times, Hunter refused to eat if he knew Jazz wasn’t feeling good.
Jazz and Hunter became inseparable.
Together with their friendship, Jazz also started to gain his strength.
One post said that even Hunter was so confident about his friend’s condition that he started giving him room.
He would still pop into the giraffe’s enclosure from time to time, though.
Jazz was eventually allowed to go out. He got two hours in the morning and two hours every sunset.
He was still assessing his environment at that point but they were optimistic about Jazz’s trajectory.
Unfortunately, they were wrong.
Two days before the fateful day, Jazz’s caretakers noticed that he was looking a bit unstable on his legs.
He was also kind of “dull” as if nothing around him was registering to his senses.
They also felt that Hunter knew what was happening. They shared that Jazz’s best friend stayed by his side again, not leaving until he knew that Jazz was safe.
Jazz passed away shortly after.
“Our Team is heartbroken as we announce that our beautiful, brave boy, Jazz the giraffe, passed away,” the organization shared in their Facebook post. “Our vet reports that Jazz had hyphemia (blood pooling in the eyes) coupled with brain hemorrhaging which could be due to a genetic defect or under-developed valve system.”
“So we finally know that Jazz didn’t have a bad giraffe mother that left him, she just knew.” They also said, confirming the rules of survival.
And in the short time Jazz spent in this world, he still had the chance to feel what it was like to have a best friend – and it was all thanks to Hunter.
See Hunter and Jazz form their beautiful friendship in the video below!
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