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‘It’s really, really unusual’: tender bond between male donkey and bull baffles scientists

Attributed to The Guardian. ENC is not independently verifying these facts.

‘It’s really, really unusual’: tender bond between male donkey and bull baffles scientists

Still from the source feed, not produced by ENC.

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Single-source

The Guardian is currently the only allowlisted source on the desk for this item.

Missing information

  • No second independent outlet is on the desk for this item yet.

What to watch next

  • Whether the original outlet issues a correction or update.
  • Whether a second independent allowlisted outlet publishes on the same development.
  • Whether later excerpts change the numbers or the framing.

Claim states describe the source record, not independently verified truth. Green and cyan never mean “confirmed.”

The Guardian reports the following. ENC is republishing it as an attributed briefing, not as independently confirmed fact. If this item is false or incomplete, the responsibility sits with The Guardian, which released it. Patroclo and Achille’s interspecies affair sheds new light on social and sexual relations between animals, scientists say In ancient myth, Achilles and Patroclus were two Greek heroes of the Trojan war whose intense bond was believed by some to have turned into a sexual relationship. In modern science, they are a bull, Achille, and a donkey, Patroclo, whose tender interspecies affair has helped to shed new light on social and sexual interactions between animals. Continue reading... Original link: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/nov/02/tender-bond-male-donkey-bull-baffles-scientists

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