A bison, which is completely blind, has developed a unique and beautiful friendship with a young cow-calf on a farm sanctuary in the US state of Oregon.
Helen, the bison, moved to the Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary in Oregon when her owner could no longer manage the financial cost of keeping her. When she arrived, she was fairly lonely, isolated, and not adjusting well to her lack of sight. It also made bonding with other bison and animals very difficult, bisons are by nature herd animals and very sociable.
That all changed following the birth of a cow-calf at the sanctuary named Oliver. Being in the same enclosure, Helen and Oliver grew closer and closer, and Helen soon regained her confidence and mood. The owners of the sanctuary would speak of how they would sit together and nuzzle. Over time Helen’s nervousness disappeared and she looked like a brand-new bison. It is almost as if Helen has adopted the calf as one of her own.
Gwen Jakubisin, the executive director of the sanctuary, told reporters:
“I catch them grooming each other which is amazing because I don’t think Helen has ever had that opportunity to express that motherly instinct before. The change in her demeanour is incredible, her joy is palpable.”
“Betsy [Oliver’s birth mother] usually drops Oliver off at ‘daycare’ and roams around while Helen watches over him for the rest of day, and she’s cool with that.”
The Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary does amazing work and now hosts over 200 animals that have been abandoned, injured, or unable to live freely in the wild. They state in their Facebook page, that their mission is to give every animal a chance at a happy life, despite their abilities:
“At Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary we believe that every individual has the right to freedom. Freedom from pain, freedom from fear, and freedom from oppression. We provide those with the most heart-breaking stories hope and the promise of the freedom to be themselves. A promise of companionship, of love, and of care.”
Source: live56today.com
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