AN ostrich appears to have been adopted by a family of elephants — and now they even walk the same way. The unique friendship between an ostrich and a herd of elephants has been captured in Indalu Game Reserve, Mossel Bay, South Africa. Having grown up alongside elephants, the 9-year-old ostrich called Fransina has been caught on camera slowly walking with her new family and even appearing to move her neck like a trunk. Gerhard van Rooyen, owner of the reserve, says Fransina joined the herd of elephants in 2014 after initially latching onto a herd of sheep. “We initially bought Fransina along with a male to take care of the sheep. “The male died about five years [ago] so we sold all the sheep and let Fransina loose to walk around the reserve. “Fransina roamed free for only a short while, before she decided to cautiously build her relationship with the gentle giants.” Ostriches are known for being sociable and usually travel in pairs or even in herds of around four or five. But Fransina has knitted a close friendship with the elephants, which is seen as an unbreakable, family-like bond. Falling in line with the rest of the herd, Fransina can often be spotted weaving between the parade of elephants, slowing her pace to match their elongated steps and making sure to stay behind the leading member. Fransina even lowers her head as she walks! Guests are invited to feed the elephants from “healthy snack buckets” containing various fruits — and Fransina has even been caught getting in on the action. Her favorite activity is definitely joining the elephant interaction sessions, which is one of the most popular Indalu activities for people visiting the reserve. (SD-Agencies) |