National Geographic magazine writer Jennifer S. Holland shares photos and stories of unlikely animal pairs that share a parent-child relationship from her book, “Unlikely Friendships: 47 Remarkable Stories from the Animal Kingdom.”

Mare and Fawn During the first week of June, Bob Muth happened to be looking out the kitchen window and noticed a white-tailed deer giving birth in the barnyard. The coyotes also noticed. And it quickly became clear that they were intent on getting the fawn away from its mother. "I ran out to 'interfere' with nature," but before he could do anything, Bonnie stepped in. Bob watched in awe as Bonnie, a Morgan Quarter horse, got between the coyotes and the fawn, then positioned herself over the fawn to protect it. And to his relief, with Bonnie towering over the tiny animal, the coyotes gave up and moved on. With the danger passed, Bonnie nickered softly and leaned down to lick the newborn as if she herself had just dropped a foal, nudging the baby into a standing position. Bob Muth