A baby rhino who scared a tortoise into its shell adorably helped the reptile out of the way of traffic by pushing it encouragingly with its nose.
The rhino calf first approached the tortoise as it walked down a road in South Africa’s Pilanesberg National Park.
To his surprise, the tortoise was so scared that it collapsed into its shell.
As a mother rhino watched patiently from the side of the road, the calf nudged at the withdrawn tortoise several times to encourage it to move out of the way of traffic.
The rhino calf first approached the tortoise as it walked down a road in South Africa’s Pilanesberg National Park. To his surprise, the tortoise was so scared that it collapsed into its shell
Apparently concerned for the small tortoise, the calf nudged at the withdrawn tortoise several times to encourage it to move out of the way of traffic.
When the tortoise finally came back out of its shell to move down the paved road, its new rhino friend trotted off with his mother.
The photos were snapped by operations manager Steve Brand, from Johannesburg, South Africa, on a trip to the national park.
Brand said: ‘My honest opinion was that the rhino was curious about this little creature walking in the road that it had to investigate.
‘The moment was rather big so only after everything did I notice that the calf pushed the tortoise out the road which could maybe have been the intent.
The photos were snapped by operations manager Steve Brand, from Johannesburg, South Africa, on a trip to the national park
When the tortoise finally came back out of its shell to move down the paved road, its new rhino friend trotted watched him trot off
‘But irrespective of the intent, this is so cute and such a big moment to see that interaction. The mom continued with grazing as she moved on and every now and then turned back to the calf as if to say “let’s go”.
‘He joined his mom again for a short while then returned as if to say ‘okay, see you later’, gave a last push then returned to mom and continued on with her.
‘We were actually out looking for big cats but kept coming across rhinos, and we were not interested until we turned a corner and saw this beautiful calf and his mum.
‘I have never seen anything like this before and that is what made this moment so special. It was a first for me and a moment I will cherish.’
The calf’s mother watched the entire interaction between her calf and the tortoise. When the tortoise moved on, the rhinos did as well