Abandoned baby dolphin is adopted by a female from a completely different species
- The common dolphin calf has been adopted by a bottlenose dolphin
- Scientists say it's rare for one species to adopt the baby of another
- Kiwi the bottlenose dolphin has been nursing the calf in Onewherno Bay, New Zealand since January, but photos have only just emerged
- She lost her own baby five years ago after becoming stranded on a bank
- Experts are unsure whether the pair will stick together in the long-term
A young abandoned common dolphin has a bright future after it was adopted by a female bottlenose dolphin in New Zealand.
Scientists say it is extremely rare for one species to adopt the baby of another.
It is thought the bottlenose dolphin – known as Kiwi – is looking after the lost dolphin calf after losing her own baby five years ago.
A young abandoned common dolphin - named Pee-Wee by researchers - has a bright future after it was adopted by a female bottlenose dolphin known as Kiwi in New Zealand. Scientists say it is extremely rare for one species to adopt the baby of another. The pair are pictured together
Her calf died after they became stranded on a muddy bank in the Kerikeri Inlet off the Bay of Islands in New Zealand, five years ago.
While Kiwi was rescued, it is thought that her baby, Squirt, was eaten by Orcas,The Northern Advocate reported.
The common dolphin has been named Pee-Wee by researchers who spotted it with Kiwi.
The pair have been swimming together since January but it was only last week that a crew member aboard a research ship called Tangaroa got the first clear photographs of them.
Lawrence Hamilton, a crew member of the Tangaroa research ship, snapped Pee-Wee nursing beneath Kiwi (pictured) in Onewherno Bay, on the North Island, New Zealand. The sighting is unusual because common and bottlenose dolphins
Five year ago, Kiwi was stranded at Kerikeri Inlet and lost her calf. Together with Pee-Wee, she has now been spotted around the Bay of Island, and Onewherno Bay
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE PAIR?
It is hard for experts to predict whether the two dolphins will stick together because inter-species adoption is so rare.
Common and bottlenose dolphins grow at different rates so experts are interested in whether Pee-Wee will adapt to bottlenose ways, of follow its instincts.
Bottlenose dolphins rely on their mothers for up to four years and reach sexual maturity at six, whereas common dolphins grow up faster.
Ms Halliday thinks Kiwi adopted Pee-Wee because she did not want the calf to suffer.
She isn’t sure if Kiwi knows that her adopted baby is another species.
Lawrence Hamilton snapped Pee-Wee nursing beneath Kiwi in nearby Onewherno Bay.
The sighting is unusual because common and bottlenose dolphins usual avoid each other and is no evidence to show that the species breed with each other.
Scientists think this suggests that Pee-Wee was lost or abandoned and then adopted by Kiwi.
Dolphin expert Jo Halliday told the newspaper: ‘It’s just so unusual - the crew are ecstatic.’
She says that Kiwi is giving milk to the young common dolphin, which seeing as she is not known to have given birth herself recently, indicates that bottlenose dolphins may be able to lactate on demand.
As well as rescuing humans, bottlenose dolphins – some even grandparents - have been known to nurse the young of others in their pods.
However, the creatures also have a ‘dark side’ and sometimes attack common porpoises and smaller species.
Experts have reported stranded porpoises and floating bodies with punctured lungs and other internal injuries, inflicted by bottlenose dolphins.
Last week, there were also reports that one the animals deliberately held a swimmer underwater and lashed out at him its its tail, off the coast of Ireland
Five years ago, Kiwi and her calf were stranded on a muddy bank in the Kerikeri Inlet off the Bay of Islands. While Kiwi was rescued (pictured) her calf sadly died and could have been eaten by Orcas