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Animal Odd Couples 2
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A goat guiding a blind horse. A doe that regularly visits her Great Dane surrogate mother. A chimp bottle-feeding a baby tiger. A giant tortoise snuggling a baby hippo. A black crow parenting a meerkat.

Despite the odds, there are countless stories of the most unlikely cross-species relationships imaginable. Aberrations of nature? Instincts gone awry? Does this kind of bonding form only when animals are removed from their natural environments? Or are they evidence of a broad array of emotions among animals?

The subject has mystified scientists for years. Now, Nature investigates why animals form these special bonds in Animal Odd Couples, airing Wednesday, November 7 at 7:00 p.m. and again Wednesday, November 28 at 7:00 p.m. on KUED.

Informed by the observations of caregivers, biologists, animal behaviorists and noted scientists Temple Grandin and Marc Bekoff, the film looks at these remarkable relationships firsthand and explores what they suggest about the nature of animal emotions.

The special shows that real friendship knows no bounds, that not only humans crave it and that compassion and empathy can more easily cross species than we thought.

On November 7 at 9:00 p.m. NOVAscienceNOW looks at what animals think. Have you ever wondered what's going on inside an animal's head? How do they see the world -- and us? Is your dog really feeling guilty when he gives you that famous "guilty look?" Do pigeon brains possess "superpowers" that allow them to find their way home across hundreds of unfamiliar miles?

Host David Pogue meets -- and competes -- with a menagerie of smart critters that challenge preconceived notions about what makes "us" different from "them," expanding our understanding of how animals really think.

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