Showing compassion towards others is not only a human trait, animals exhibit them too and it has been proven time and time again, and these are but a few examples.

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From a dog adopting orphaned ducks to a monkey risking his own life to rescue a friend, here are 10 times animals saved other animals from dying.

K9 Ducklings:

Here’s one dog that didn’t just save one life, but many by doing something that is simply unfathomable; by fathering a gaggle of orphaned ducklings. When this flock of ducklings were found motherless at Mountfitchet Castle near Essex, England, a 10 year old Labrador named Fred took on the role of mother and father to the orphaned birds.

The ducklings; mother was nowhere to be found when staff noticed them waddling around alone, but Fred immediately took to them and has been babysitting ever since. Seeing the tiny ducklings following the dog around and taking rides on its broad back are simply priceless. The adopted father even takes his little duckling babies to the castle’s moat for a swim.

According to Fred’s owner, Jeremy Goldsmith, he was worried about the ducklings when they were found without a mother since they were too young to take care of themselves, so he took them inside the castle. As soon as they were inside, Fred took the babies under his paw and has acted as their protector ever since.

Big Dog Saves Little Dog:

As proven in the previous entry, dogs instinctively like to live in packs. As long as they’re in a group, even if the group isn’t composed of all dogs, they still thrive. That’s the main reason why they are such good family pets and protectors.

The bond between pack members is incredibly strong, so much so that when one pack member’s life is in peril, the others will instinctively come to the rescue. Case in point is this security camera footage uploaded to Facebook by Byron Thanarayen showing how his rescued Saffordshire bull named Jessie saving his Pomeranian named Chucky from nearly drowning in the family pool. The video shows Chucky falling into the pool with Jessie, upon sensing his friend in danger, coming to the rescue within minutes.

Jessie couldn’t quite figure out how to save Chucky though, as you can see him following the Pomeranian around the pool while it frantically swims. The poor drowning dog had to swim around for 34 minutes before he was finally pulled from the water by Jesse with the use of his teeth. The owners never noticed the near tragedy and only found out what happened when they found both dogs soaking wet so they decided to check the security cameras.

Bodyguards of the Sea:

In May 2012, researchers observed a pod of killer whales attacking a gray whale and its calf in Monterey Bay, California. After a struggle, the calf was killed. But in an act that can only be described as a show of altruism, humpback whales came to the rescue.

Two humpback whales were already on the scene as the killer whales, or orcas, attacked the grays. But after the calf had been killed, about 14 more humpbacks arrived; seemingly to prevent the orcas from eating the calf. For six and a half hours, the humpbacks slashed at the killer whales with their flippers and tails. And despite thick swarms of krill spotted nearby—a favorite food for humpbacks—the giants did not abandon their vigil. It’s not clear why the humpbacks would risk injury and waste so much energy protecting an entirely different species. What is clear is that this was not an isolated incident.

There’s even one incident in which humpbacks apparently tried to save a pair of ocean sunfish from becoming orca food, and another incident wherein the humpback allowed a seal to ride on its fin to avoid being eaten.

Orangutan Saves Drowning Bird:

For an extremely brief moment, it looked as though this orangutan was craving a mid-day snack when it plucked a duckling from the water in its enclosure, however, onlookers were proven wrong quite quickly. This dramatic footage shows the caring ape appearing to kiss life into its new friend, after finding it struggling in the water after being abandoned by its mother. Seeming to realize the young duck is in trouble, it tears off a leaf from a nearby bush and places it near the birds mouth, as it tries to latch on.

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