In Bengaluru's Doddaballapura, Dog Steps In As Surrogate Mother For Baby Goat

Social media is a treasure trove of many heartwarming videos that exude positivity, warmth, and love. Local 18 Kannada has uploaded one such video that has tugged the heartstrings of many people. The video shows a one-week-old baby goat feeding on the milk of a female dog. The video shows a girl running with a baby goat in her lap and bringing it near the dog. The goat starts feeding on the dog’s milk and the latter shows no signs of discomfort. The video is from Doddaballapur, a town in Karnataka district Bengaluru Rural.

A man named Krishnaprasad and his family take care of this goat, dog, and many other animals. The girl, shown in the Local 18 Kannada byte, bringing a goat near the dog is the daughter of Krishnaprasad. The locals are surprised to find out that a baby goat lives off the milk of a dog. The goat’s owner Krishnaprasad is also surprised to see that the goat animal feeds on a dog’s milk rather than her mother’s.

The bonding between the dog and the goat has increased a lot in the past week. Krishnaprasad, their owner, keeps more than 30 goats in his home. Not only this baby goat, but the dog has been rearing other goats as well for the past two years. This dog had given birth to three cubs a fortnight ago. Unfortunately, one of those cubs died and only two of them managed to survive. Someone took those puppies without Krishnaprasad’s knowledge. Meanwhile, one of the goats, owned by Krishnaprasad, had given birth just a week ago. This baby goat now feeds on the milk of the mother dog, whose puppies have been lost and died as well.

This unique example of motherly instinct depicted by the animals towards the younger ones of others has often puzzled biologists. Micheal Weiss, an ecologist, talked about this issue in an interview with the LiveScience portal. He said that the act of caring for an unrelated, parentless infant probably emerged because it confers an evolutionary advantage on the foster parent. According to him, adoption may provide valuable caregiving experience for females who lack offspring. He said that it can also increase their future young’s survival chances.