- Feb 5, 2002
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At the Potawatomi Zoo in Indiana, a mama golden retriever has her paws as full as can be these days looking after a huge litter of pups—but half aren’t hers.
The zoo had the unhappy issue of an African painted dog who was a first-time mom and wasn’t displaying the level of care required to raise her litter of 8 pups. The zoo’s canine team knew they had to act fast.
The group wanted to use a surrogate mother, because the African painted dog relies on the social group into which it was born. The Indiana Council for Animal Welfare connected the zoo with a golden retriever named Kassy who just gave birth to a litter of her own.
But even with Kassy’s love and attention, the litter of 8 experienced some cases of failure to thrive, owing to a lack of presence from members of their species. But three individuals were resilient and survived. Due to the delicate nature of baby animals, their names were simply Blue, Red, and Orange—identity codes to various shades on their coats to prevent their caretakers from becoming too attached.
The three will form a new social group in an enclosure next to the one into which they should have been welcomed. Abandoned more or less by their mom, the canine team at the zoo is wary that reintegrating them as pups will cause conflict for the same reason they were abandoned. They will live separately and perhaps reunite in adulthood.
MORE CROSS-SPECIES KINDNESS:
Continued below.
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The zoo had the unhappy issue of an African painted dog who was a first-time mom and wasn’t displaying the level of care required to raise her litter of 8 pups. The zoo’s canine team knew they had to act fast.
The group wanted to use a surrogate mother, because the African painted dog relies on the social group into which it was born. The Indiana Council for Animal Welfare connected the zoo with a golden retriever named Kassy who just gave birth to a litter of her own.
But even with Kassy’s love and attention, the litter of 8 experienced some cases of failure to thrive, owing to a lack of presence from members of their species. But three individuals were resilient and survived. Due to the delicate nature of baby animals, their names were simply Blue, Red, and Orange—identity codes to various shades on their coats to prevent their caretakers from becoming too attached.
The three will form a new social group in an enclosure next to the one into which they should have been welcomed. Abandoned more or less by their mom, the canine team at the zoo is wary that reintegrating them as pups will cause conflict for the same reason they were abandoned. They will live separately and perhaps reunite in adulthood.
MORE CROSS-SPECIES KINDNESS:
Continued below.
This Golden Retriever is Nursing 3 African Painted Dog Pups at Indiana Zoo After Mother Abandoned Them
Their early struggles will present critical lessons to zoo visitors on the delicate nature of wild social structures.
