In a world where human-animal friendships are often limited to more common pets like dogs or cats, an extraordinary bond has formed between an unlikely pair – a tiny sparrow and a compassionate 12-year-old boy.
This unique friendship has captured the hearts of many, showcasing the incredible capacity for connection and empathy that exists between species.
Vadim, 12, found the small bird abandoned after she hatched in Dudinka, the administrative capital of the Taymyr Peninsula in northern Russia. He took the chick to his grandmother’s house in Minusinsk, 264 miles south of Russia’s Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, where he was spending his summer holidays.
After feeding and nurturing the bird back to health, Vadim resigned himself to having to set his feathered friend free. But when the sad day came to release the wild sparrow, ‘Abi’ decided to stay with him instead of flying away.
The pair are now inseparable, with Abi spending most of her time with her human companion, and appearing to treat him as a friend by eating out of his hand and sitting on his shoulder.
Vadim said he plans to take the tiny bird back to his hometown at the end of his school holiday.