Guard dog and abandoned baby giraffe are best friends

Baby giraffe and guard dog

Jazz, a baby giraffe, became friends with Hunter, a Belgian Malinois, at the Rhino orphanage in the Limpopo province of South Africa. Jazz was abandoned by his mother after birth.

MOKOPANE, South Africa - A dog in South Africa has befriended a baby giraffe that was abandoned at birth, rescued and taken to a local orphanage.

Jazz the giraffe arrived at The Rhino Orphanage just days after birth. A farmer found him in the wild, weak and dehydrated, and called the center for help.

Resident watchdog Hunter, a Belgian Malinois, quickly began to care for the newcomer.

Caretaker Janie Van Heerden said they bonded immediately. She said the baby giraffe had been given IV fluids and is doing much better. He is being fed milk and is trying to eat leaves.

"Possibly soon he will be able to go home," she said Friday.

(See more photos and videos below.)

A Belgian Malinois dog and a baby giraffe sit on a carpet in an animal orphanage

Hunter, a young Belgian Malinois, licks Jazz, a baby giraffe, at the Rhino orphanage in the Limpopo province of South Africa, Friday, Nov. 22 2019. (AP/Jerome Delay)

A Belgian Malinois dog, a baby giraffe and a human worker sit on a carpet in an animal orphanage

Hunter keeps an eye on Jazz as orphanage worker Janie Van Heerden looks on at the Rhino orphanage in the Limpopo province of South Africa, Friday, Nov. 22 2019. (AP/Jerome Delay)