It seems straight out of a Disney movie—wild animals from two different species becoming inseparable friends. And yet that’s what happened at the Raven Ridge Wildlife Center in southeastern Pennsylvania, between a turkey and a mourning dove.
Last spring, the wildlife center received two likely orphaned turkey poults (young turkeys). To calm them down, the team put them with a feather-duster as a stand-in mother turkey. Because turkey poults are easily stressed, they are difficult to rehabilitate, according to a Facebook post by the wildlife center. In fact, one of them didn’t make it.
“Since we never raise baby animals alone, we had to find a companion for the remaining poult,” the wildlife center wrote. “We paired it with a baby mourning dove of similar size, hoping they would comfort each other while eating and exploring as they are both ground eaters.”
The pairing turned out to be a raging success. They formed an inseparable bond that Raven Ridge Wildlife Center had never seen before. Months later, the team gave the dove a soft release, meaning the bird could leave whenever it wanted. But he clearly had no intention of leaving his friend. The dove continued returning to the turkey’s cage, and the two would sit near each other on either side of the separation.
“After a few days, we put the dove back in with the turkey, and it was clear they were happiest together,” the wildlife center explained. But “we knew keeping them caged for the rest of their lives, or keeping them just because they were cute, was neither an option nor fair to these wild animals.”
As such, the team contacted a large sanctuary in Pennsylvania to request a joint release. This way, the duo could choose whether to stick together or follow their own paths. After their soft release, the dove flew into the trees and the turkey started foraging, free to stick together or join other members of their species.
“We don’t know if they’ll stay together, but our team made sure they had a safe place until they were ready to be on their own,” the wildlife center concluded.
