As they said, “Birds of the same feather flock together.”
It’s a piece of old-time wisdom that is almost always true but in the amazing and breathtaking wilderness of Nairobi, two animals tell a different story.
An elephant and an ostrich proved that kinship goes beyond species – that in the wilderness, animals can come together on their own and live in harmony.
An orphaned elephant was rescued by the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
It was October 10th, 2014 when an infant orphan was rescued in the Milgis Lugga, Laikipia district.
Knowing how extremely vulnerable infant elephants are, the trust flew in their rescue team to the airport where the elephant was taken.
There, they discovered that the infant orphan was not alone. But instead of expecting an aunt or a sibling, they found something entirely different.
The elephant was accompanied by two newly hatched ostriches.
The ostriches were identical and just like the elephant, they were also orphaned. Seeing these odd companions, the rescuers remembered an expression – “two peas in a pod.”
And thus, the elephant’s companions were named such.
Pea and Pod, together with Wass the baby elephant, were taken to the park.
“During the time that my late husband was warden of Tsavo East National park many orphaned ostriches passed through our hands, and we had learned from experience that while the females were gentle, the males always turned out to be “otherwise” and in order to live wild, had to be taken far from human habitation since they could be dangerously aggressive and capable of slicing a human from head to toe using their legs and the claw.” They said on their website.
But the orphaned ostriches were too young at that time that they can’t identify their gender. It became slowly apparent, however, when Pea and Pod showed their temperament.
Pea loved hanging around and walking with the elephants and the keepers. While Pod can be “negotiated” with or can be seen together with Pea, he’s not as receptive to other people.
The ostriches and their elephant friends go on walks every day.
Through these walks, Wass and the other elephants got back on their feet. The trust hopes that all of them, including Pea and Pod, can get the chance to reintegrate themselves into the wild where they truly belong.
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That became a reality when the ostriches grew up. Now standing proudly at seven feet tall, the ostriches looked like herders of small elephants during their walks.
On one of these walks, Pod never returned.
The trust suspected that Pod ran off with a wild ostrich herd as “there was no evidence to suggest otherwise.” Pea returned with the herd, however, and has stayed with them since.
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“At times when the elephants took a nap, she would lie next to them, cradling them with her neck and covering them with her soft feathers,” they said on their website, “She truly believed she was part of their herd.”
Watch how these ostriches grew up with an elephant and became part of the herd.
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