The animals at the zoo in the Georgian capital Tbilisi never end up without friends, even if sometimes they are of a different species. The female rhinoceros that lives in the zoo, Manuela, became close with the donkeys there, after she was unable to coexist successfully with the goats and zebras, informs Associated Press.
Manuela became severely depressed after her partner passed away. She did not take his death well, even acting aggressively toward the personnel, explained a spokesperson for the zoo.
In their effort to soothe the lamenting animal, the workers put a few zebras in the rhino's cage. Unfortunately, Manuela did not warm up to them at all and reacted quite sharply to their presence. Since they were unable to solve the problem with zebras, it occurred to the zookeepers to try using goats.
The cohabitation attempt failed once more since the horned animals became frightened and ran off. To everyone's surprise however, Manuela returned to her past sense of ease all thanks to 2 donkeys. The animals responded well instantly and the aggressive outbursts of the depressed Manuela quickly subsided.
This is not the only instance to prove that donkeys, contrary to most assumptions, turn out to be social animals. Not too long ago, the entire world was moved by the video of 2 pet animals - the donkey Jellybean and goat Mr. G from Southern California.
The two animals had been coexisting throughout a period of 10 years, when one day their owner ended up penniless and they were confiscated. The goat wound up in the non-profit organization Animal Place, which provides sanctuary to abused and mistreated animals, and the donkey was taken to a different shelter.
The staff at Animal Place gave the goat time to adapt to its new home, gave it food and provided every possible care, but the animal looked despondent and paid no notice to the offered goodies.
Mr. G was looked over by a vet but no health problems were detected. Ultimately, the staff realized that the animal was about to fall sick due to heartache for its lost friend Jellybean.
Two days later, the donkey was taken to its long-time pal and the goat came to its senses. Mr. G forgot about his depression and began eating. Now, both animals reside in the 600-acre property Grass Valley, where they can once again live together.
