Jack and Diane couldn’t bear being apart.
A male donkey and female emu that were briefly separated after being rescued from an abandoned North Carolina farm are back together and will be adopted together, caretakers say.
The Carolina Waterfowl Rescue, which named the pair Jack and Diane after hundreds of Facebook user suggestions, found the donkey and emu along with chickens, guineas and other animals at the deserted farm. They were initially kept in different enclosures, but separated from Diane, Jack began crying. Diane frantically “paced around like an expectant father,” the Rescue told The Charlotte Observer. Jack became so upset he even attacked a donkey who got close to Diane.
“He is protective of her,” the Rescue wrote on Facebook. “Jack does not want any other donkeys near him or Diane.”
So they quickly determined that the pair had to be reunited. Once back together, all was well. In one photo posted by the Rescue, Jack is apparently “guarding” Diane.
“They like to cuddle and even sleep together,” Jennifer Gordon told the Observer. While being transported by trailer earlier this week, they calmly huddled together on the floor. “I’d never really seen anything like it,” Gordon told CTV News Channel on Friday. “They were just taking comfort in each other.”
After selecting their new names, the Carolina organization officially introduced the couple on Facebook: “We are excited to introduce Jack and Diane,” they wrote. “A story where two creatures with different looks, backgrounds and even breeds learn to stand together, protect each other and love.”
The organization, which is seeking donations, is now looking for a “forever home” for the odd couple on a new farm, writing online that they must be adopted together and away from other animals: “We won’t be splitting them up.”
