Zebra mother tries to defend Foal from Aggressive Rivals

This brave mother zebra desperately defended her foal after a vicious male rival tried to drown it at a watering hole to assert his dominance over the herd.

The baby is seen upside-down as the male holds it under the water at a lake in Etosha National Park, Namibia.

But the baby manages to get onto its feet and runs away from the attacker, beginning a life-or-death chase.

Male zebras regularly kill foals sired by other males in order to assert their claim to be the dominant male in the herd and ensure they do not become a future rival.

The killing of a female’s young also frees her up to be a potential reproductive partner. The mother tries to knock the male off course to protect her baby, who runs towards some bushes.

It is not clear whether the foal survived the encounter as the footage cuts out after a minute and 50 seconds.

The video was filmed by wildlife enthusiast Daniel Tjärnén, who called it a ‘once in a lifetime sighting’.

He said: ‘We were driving up to this waterhole, hoping to get some good sightings and especially hoping to see some predators.’

‘As ever with mother nature, trying to predict what you’ll see in the bush is never easy. More often than not, you are way off! ‘Instead of predators, we saw this dazzle of zebras drinking from the waterhole. 

‘We suddenly noticed that one zebra was actively attacking a young foal. First, it was a bit shocking but then I thought – it’s the way of nature.’

Many of the people watching reacted differently and wanted to help the foal. Mr Tjärnén added: ‘After a long battle between the male, mother and foal, the zebras disappeared behind the trees.

‘I think the baby survived for the time being, but it looked injured. Maybe it was chased off or killed later on by a passing predator.’

Game ranger Richard de Gouveia said the site of males trying to kill their rivals’ babies is not uncommon at the reserve. 

He added that zebra stallions will sometimes even go as far as stealing females from one another.

He added: ‘If the female which is stolen is pregnant, the new male will rape her until such time as she has aborted the pregnancy. 

‘Abortion would be done by releasing hormones that would cause her body to reabsorb the fetus or miscarry or if she gave birth to a live foal it would be kicked to death by the male.’    

Protective Dog drags owner’s Granddaughter to safety to stop her getting washed away by waves

A HEROIC hound saved a little girl from “drowning” after she was hit by a tiny wave on a beach in France.

The caring pet feared the youngster – his owner’s granddaughter – would be dragged away by the mild currents and quickly sprang into action.

Loyal Matyas was in the shallows near Gouville-sur-Mer, France, with the little girl when a small ripple trickled over the top of her.

He had been standing guard over the girl – who looks about six or seven –  while she played in the waters just yards from her family.

However, when the wave hit the giant pooch clearly feared the worst and gently grabbed hold of her T-shirt with his teeth and dragged her to the safety of the sand.

The little girl can be heard laughing as Matyas pulls her out of the water, only letting go when he thinks she is out of any kind of danger.

Footage of the moving moment  – filmed on August 3 – has now been shared online and it already has more than one million views.

Many of those to have seen the hilarious clip were quick to praise mighty Matyas for his adorable actions.

One wrote: “Nice to have such a smart dog around… he watches that little girl better than many adults would.”

Another said: “He’s doing his job protecting her. Good doggy.”

While another added: “The dog is absolutely special and (what a) wonderful beautiful video.”

The clips also sparked a debate online as to the breed of the hero dog with many suggesting he was either a Sarplaninac, a Leonberger, a Keeshond, or a Newfoundland.

See more: Shaggy Dog has eerie outline of his “Own FACE” in his Tail

A dog owner has revealed her shock after spotting her pooches’ face – on his own bottom.

Alyson Shorthouse, from Wolverhampton,  was stunned when she saw an image of her mother Irish Wolfhound, named OD, on its very own tail.

Alyson said she made the shocking discovery while OD was having fun in the garden, where she saw him excitedly chasing his tail.

Upon a closer inspection, she noticed the uncanny outline of the pup’s own face in the fur around its bottom. 

The image mimicked OD’s entire face, including its grey fringe fur, long ears and even its almond-shaped eyes.

A stunned Alison couldn’t believe the sight, and so quickly posted the image online, where she joked: ‘My mother’s dog is quite two-faced’. 

In the image, OD can be seen peering backwards, making it easy to compare his face with the likeness on its tale.

The dog appears stoic, while the  twinning image appears just as gloomy, and perhaps even scary. 

Astonished users took to the post to make jest of the sighting, with one person writing: ‘A tail of two faces’.

‘Can’t tell if he’s coming or going!’ said another.

Someone else said: ‘Lord Dogdemort’.

One more said: ‘A self portrait’.

Meanwhile one person beamed: ‘Oh, this is good, this is really good’.