A few years ago, a video surfaced online that went viral. It starts with a baboon kidnapping a puppy from his helpless mother. Fast forward to some time later, and the events unfold into a heartwarming story.
The baboon and the dog are now friends and seem to be in a symbiotic relationship. You can even see the baboon grooming the dog. A sign of acceptance. The primates only groom their family members.
It was not the last one. While on a bird research tour, a Cornell student named Luke Seitz witnessed and recorded another baboon manhandling a puppy. Not once but over a period of days. The pup does not seem to mind. So, do we take that to mean that baboons keep dogs as pets? Could it be an allusion of how the original domestication of dogs by neanderthals happened? Well, not entirely. There has been a lot of skepticism surrounding the videos, especially the first.
A lot of people argued that all they have to run by is the word of the video narrator, and his interpretation of what was happening is not necessarily correct. Besides, it’s not the first time we have heard about surprising animal friendships. Remember the Labrador Retriever that became best friends with an elephant? What about the lioness that adopted an Oryx in Kenya.
So, is it true that baboons keep dogs as pets? Well, there is a video to support the theory but no concrete evidence to carry it on. No footage of the two animals feeding together or even migrating together. Canine eulogist, Eniko Kubinyi, even believes that what we saw is just the baboon and the dog playing. You saw the video, what do you think?
Feature Image Source: Pixabay