The buck stops here

This endeering photo made it to the front page of reddit recently:

Real-life Bambi and Thumper

A series of photos by Tanja Askani captures a real life Bambi and Thumper.

As explained (in German) by Tanja on his website: Its mother killed shortly before its birth, the fawn was raised in a rural town with help from local townspeople. At first the wild rabbit and the fawn just grazed in the same area, but quickly became friends. Not even the cold winter months could separate them. When the fawn was old enough, the townspeople decided to release it back into the wild. The fawn was anesthetized for easier transport; the final photo shows the rabbit supporting the deer's sleepy head, as if it were saying goodbye.




The full story and many more photos are available on Tanja Askani's web site.

BBC News: "Rare deer twin in the dog house"

As reported by the BBC, a fawn rejected by his mother has found stand-in parents in two dogs named Geoffrey and Kipper.

Mi-Lu was one of two fawns born to a Père David's deer at Knowsley Safari Park in the United Kingdom, but his mother showed interest only in his twin. Abandoned by his mother, the fawn was found cold and alone in a ditch by park staff. But with the help of the park curator's dogs Geoffrey, a golden retriever, and Kipper, a lurcher, staff were able to nurse Mi-Lu back to health.

(Père David's deer, originally from China, are a critically endangered species; at one time there were only 18 left in the world!)

Here's a photo of Mi-Lu with one of his adoptive parents: