What is it about interspecies animal friendships that make humans so infatuated? Is it the unlikelihood of the partnerships or the simple cuteness of two different species reflecting so well upon one another? Whatever it is, these adorable animal pairings are simply precious no matter how you look at it.
Perhaps one of the most famous strange animal friendships involves Greg Pike’s three companions, Booger, Kitty and Mousie, who constantly ride on top of one another. His animals were named by a group of school children who Greg gave the opportunity to name.
Pike is a busker who receives monetary compensation from passersby who wish to photograph his bizarre animal trio. He currently resides in San Francisco, but he and his pets previously lived in a small border town in Colorado, Arizona, in Santa Fe, New Mexico and in Santa Barbara, so if you think you may have seen him in person and you happened to be in one of those places, then you almost certainly saw the real act, not an impersonator.
Greg likes to think of them as a symbol of peace, if these three national enemies can get along, why can’t we humans. If you like the act, you can always make a donation via his website.
Source Video link
When Stuart and Caroline Ward bought an owl named Boobah right before her German shepherd, Hazel, gave birth to puppies, they worried the dog would be overprotective of the litter and act aggressive towards the owl. Fortunately, the exact opposite was true. Hazel immediately started to look after her owl friend who took to riding on the dog’s back for rides. The pair soon became inseparable and Boobah even tried to suckle milk from Hazel like the young puppies did.
Source
Many people have seen this image without ever seeing the equally sweet story. The 12 week-old macaque was brought to an animal sanctuary after he was discovered close to death after being abandoned by his mother. After his rescue, his health improved, but he remained listless until he struck up a friendship with an unlikely suspect –a white pigeon. The two were so close keepers almost never found them more than a few feet from one another’s side. The friendship managed to bring the monkey back from the brink and he displayed a whole new attitude.
Source
While some consider cats and dogs to be mortal enemies, it is still fairly common to see the two animals become close friends after living together. As common as cat and dog friendships are, it takes a special bond to capture the interest of a nation, but Cashew and Libby were that close.
Cashew was an older yellow lab that had gone blind and deaf in her old age, but his feline friend, Libby, didn’t let that stand in the way of their friendship. Libby served as a seeing-eye cat for her elderly friend, leading him to his food and watching over him while the pair slept next to each other. The cat would even follow her friend on walks to make sure he got back safely.
After Cashew passed, Libby has shown no interest in other dogs and has been known to hang around at her friend’s favorite nap spots. The cat’s utter loyalty to her friend earner her the Cat of the Year from the ASPCA, a high honor with so many great kitties in the country.
Source Image via ASPCA
While the header for this one has the makings of a great animal sitcom, it’s actually a true story that warms your heart. It al started when a stray goat and dog were picked up by animal control outside of a wedding chapel in Dallas. They were brought to the East Lake Pet Orphanage, where volunteers soon saw the pair was inseparable. Unfortunately, Texas law requires that abandoned pets must be kept with animals of the same species, so a sheriff’s deputy took away the goat, named Minnelli. If the goat stayed unclaimed, she would have been sold at a livestock auction.
Fortunately, the story already hit the papers and the Dallas County Commissioner assured the public Minnelli would not end up on someone’s dinner table. A few days later, the animal’s owner came forward. The family also owned a three-legged yellow lab and could no longer afford to take care of their animals, so they signed over the rights to all three pets to the East Lake Pet Orphanage.
The shelter received hundreds of adoption requests for the unlikely trio, which they then narrowed down to the five best applicants. Representatives from the shelter visited each home to ensure the pets were given to the best possible candidates. Eventually, they were adopted by Norman and Sandra Williams who owned three acres of land and plenty of other critters to keep their new family members company.
Source: #1, #2
In 2001, Muschi the cat casually strolled into the cage of an Asian black bear at the Berlin Zoo. The brave feline headed right for the bear’s food dish and started to eat lunch. It might seem like that would be the end of the cat’s story, but instead, Mausi the bear immediately took to the feline and the two became fast friends.
Years later, the two are still inseparable. They not only share meals, but they play, sleep and cuddle together on a daily basis.
Source: #1, #2
No, we’re not off to see the wizard, instead we’re off to Georgia where a raid on a drug dealer’s house resulted in some unexpected contraband seizures. When authorities went through the home, they discovered a lion, a tiger and a bear cub, all only two months old. When they were brought to the Noah's Ark Animal Rescue Center, employees decided to keep the three cubs together.
Eight years later, the three share a specially built enclosure designed to enrich the family’s lives and to let viewers enjoy the unique friendship. Baloo, the 1,000 pound bear, Shere Khan, the 350 pound tiger and Leo, a 350 lion, enjoy play fighting sleeping and eating together. At night, they sleep on top of each other for comfort. Due to the animal’s sleep schedules, Baloo and Shere Khan are the closest, as Leo sleeps throughout most of the day while the other two play.
Source Image via WebEcoist
Sometimes animal friendships are divided not only by species, but by living environments. Chino the dog and Falstaff the koi’s friendship is even more remarkable because neither can truly live in one another’s world. Chino’s owners say he was always curious about fish but his favorite was Falstaff, who was the only fish to reciprocate the feeling. As Chino laid on the rocks of the backyard koi pond, staring into the water, Falstaff eagerly swam up to him, even nibbling on his paws if they happened to dip in the water.
Source
When a mother kangaroo was struck by a car and killed with her baby inside of her pouch, the baby was facing certain death. But a terrier named Rex stopped that terrible fate from happening. Rex was on a walk with his owner when he passed the dead kangaroo. A little while later, he returned to the spot, removed the baby from the pouch and dropped it at the feet of his shocked owner. The joey remained calm and even started snuggling the dog, who responded by licking the baby.
While the two hit it off quite well, Rex Jr., as the young kangaroo was named, was brought to the Jirrahlinga Wildlife Sanctuary, where he will be released back into the wild when he is 18 months old. While the pair’s friendship was short, it meant all the difference to Rex Jr. who wouldn’t be alive without his canine hero.
Source
Dogs can apparently be any species’ best friend, not just humans. Case in point, the exceptional bond between Tara the elephant and Bella the dog. The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee doesn’t limit its care of animals to just elephants. On top of the many pachyderms they’ve saved, they’ve also take in about a dozen or so stray dogs. For the most part, the dogs and elephants make friendships with other animals of their species and ignore the other animals, but Bella and Tarra are different. They chose each other.
Tarra and Bella played together, ate together and even slept beside each other, but when Bella suffered a spinal cord injury, Tarra showed just how dedicated she was to her friend. For weeks, the elephant sat patiently just outside the sanctuary office where the dog was recuperating. After she was recuperated, the couple made a happy reunion and once again strolled and played through the park’s 2,700 acres.
Sources: #1, #2 Video link
In the wild, Sumerian tigers would be happy to snack on a baby orangutans, but when you put two pairs of abandoned cubs together, natural instincts can sometimes fly out the window. Instead of attacking the young primates who were housed in the same nursery room, the two tiger cubs find them to be the best of bunk mates.
The animals are constantly monitored so any potential problems can be taken care of before there are any serious dangers, but so far the animals have all gotten along wonderfully. During the days, the orangutans spend the day swinging through the trees while the kittens take naps. At night, the group settles down to sleep, cuddling one another for warmth.
Source Video link
Invoking the spirit of Lion King, Zinzi the lion was only one day old when her mother started refusing to feed her, requiring the intervention of local zookeepers. After she was brought in to the zoo, she quickly attracted a fan, Bob the meerkat. Bob started following Zinzi and snuggling up with her during nap time. Quickly enough, they started doing everything together. Unlike the real Lion King friendship between Simba and Timon, one can assume that Zinzi hasn’t taken to eating bugs in place of meat as that would probably deprive him of too much energy.
Source
"I've never seen anything like it. Gohan sometimes even climbs onto Aochan to take a nap on his back," one of the keepers said.
Source Video link
There are plenty more adorable critter pairings out there, feel free to share your favorite stories in the comments!
A Dog, A Cat and A Mouse
Perhaps one of the most famous strange animal friendships involves Greg Pike’s three companions, Booger, Kitty and Mousie, who constantly ride on top of one another. His animals were named by a group of school children who Greg gave the opportunity to name.
Pike is a busker who receives monetary compensation from passersby who wish to photograph his bizarre animal trio. He currently resides in San Francisco, but he and his pets previously lived in a small border town in Colorado, Arizona, in Santa Fe, New Mexico and in Santa Barbara, so if you think you may have seen him in person and you happened to be in one of those places, then you almost certainly saw the real act, not an impersonator.
Greg likes to think of them as a symbol of peace, if these three national enemies can get along, why can’t we humans. If you like the act, you can always make a donation via his website.
Source Video link
A Dog and An Owl
When Stuart and Caroline Ward bought an owl named Boobah right before her German shepherd, Hazel, gave birth to puppies, they worried the dog would be overprotective of the litter and act aggressive towards the owl. Fortunately, the exact opposite was true. Hazel immediately started to look after her owl friend who took to riding on the dog’s back for rides. The pair soon became inseparable and Boobah even tried to suckle milk from Hazel like the young puppies did.
Source
A Monkey and A Pigeon
Many people have seen this image without ever seeing the equally sweet story. The 12 week-old macaque was brought to an animal sanctuary after he was discovered close to death after being abandoned by his mother. After his rescue, his health improved, but he remained listless until he struck up a friendship with an unlikely suspect –a white pigeon. The two were so close keepers almost never found them more than a few feet from one another’s side. The friendship managed to bring the monkey back from the brink and he displayed a whole new attitude.
Source
A Blind Dog and A Cat
While some consider cats and dogs to be mortal enemies, it is still fairly common to see the two animals become close friends after living together. As common as cat and dog friendships are, it takes a special bond to capture the interest of a nation, but Cashew and Libby were that close.
Cashew was an older yellow lab that had gone blind and deaf in her old age, but his feline friend, Libby, didn’t let that stand in the way of their friendship. Libby served as a seeing-eye cat for her elderly friend, leading him to his food and watching over him while the pair slept next to each other. The cat would even follow her friend on walks to make sure he got back safely.
After Cashew passed, Libby has shown no interest in other dogs and has been known to hang around at her friend’s favorite nap spots. The cat’s utter loyalty to her friend earner her the Cat of the Year from the ASPCA, a high honor with so many great kitties in the country.
Source Image via ASPCA
Two Dogs and A Goat
While the header for this one has the makings of a great animal sitcom, it’s actually a true story that warms your heart. It al started when a stray goat and dog were picked up by animal control outside of a wedding chapel in Dallas. They were brought to the East Lake Pet Orphanage, where volunteers soon saw the pair was inseparable. Unfortunately, Texas law requires that abandoned pets must be kept with animals of the same species, so a sheriff’s deputy took away the goat, named Minnelli. If the goat stayed unclaimed, she would have been sold at a livestock auction.
Fortunately, the story already hit the papers and the Dallas County Commissioner assured the public Minnelli would not end up on someone’s dinner table. A few days later, the animal’s owner came forward. The family also owned a three-legged yellow lab and could no longer afford to take care of their animals, so they signed over the rights to all three pets to the East Lake Pet Orphanage.
The shelter received hundreds of adoption requests for the unlikely trio, which they then narrowed down to the five best applicants. Representatives from the shelter visited each home to ensure the pets were given to the best possible candidates. Eventually, they were adopted by Norman and Sandra Williams who owned three acres of land and plenty of other critters to keep their new family members company.
Source: #1, #2
A Bear and A Cat
In 2001, Muschi the cat casually strolled into the cage of an Asian black bear at the Berlin Zoo. The brave feline headed right for the bear’s food dish and started to eat lunch. It might seem like that would be the end of the cat’s story, but instead, Mausi the bear immediately took to the feline and the two became fast friends.
Years later, the two are still inseparable. They not only share meals, but they play, sleep and cuddle together on a daily basis.
Source: #1, #2
A Lion, A Tiger and A Bear
No, we’re not off to see the wizard, instead we’re off to Georgia where a raid on a drug dealer’s house resulted in some unexpected contraband seizures. When authorities went through the home, they discovered a lion, a tiger and a bear cub, all only two months old. When they were brought to the Noah's Ark Animal Rescue Center, employees decided to keep the three cubs together.
Eight years later, the three share a specially built enclosure designed to enrich the family’s lives and to let viewers enjoy the unique friendship. Baloo, the 1,000 pound bear, Shere Khan, the 350 pound tiger and Leo, a 350 lion, enjoy play fighting sleeping and eating together. At night, they sleep on top of each other for comfort. Due to the animal’s sleep schedules, Baloo and Shere Khan are the closest, as Leo sleeps throughout most of the day while the other two play.
Source Image via WebEcoist
A Fish and A Dog
Sometimes animal friendships are divided not only by species, but by living environments. Chino the dog and Falstaff the koi’s friendship is even more remarkable because neither can truly live in one another’s world. Chino’s owners say he was always curious about fish but his favorite was Falstaff, who was the only fish to reciprocate the feeling. As Chino laid on the rocks of the backyard koi pond, staring into the water, Falstaff eagerly swam up to him, even nibbling on his paws if they happened to dip in the water.
Source
A Kangaroo and A Dog
When a mother kangaroo was struck by a car and killed with her baby inside of her pouch, the baby was facing certain death. But a terrier named Rex stopped that terrible fate from happening. Rex was on a walk with his owner when he passed the dead kangaroo. A little while later, he returned to the spot, removed the baby from the pouch and dropped it at the feet of his shocked owner. The joey remained calm and even started snuggling the dog, who responded by licking the baby.
While the two hit it off quite well, Rex Jr., as the young kangaroo was named, was brought to the Jirrahlinga Wildlife Sanctuary, where he will be released back into the wild when he is 18 months old. While the pair’s friendship was short, it meant all the difference to Rex Jr. who wouldn’t be alive without his canine hero.
Source
An Elephant and A Dog
Dogs can apparently be any species’ best friend, not just humans. Case in point, the exceptional bond between Tara the elephant and Bella the dog. The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee doesn’t limit its care of animals to just elephants. On top of the many pachyderms they’ve saved, they’ve also take in about a dozen or so stray dogs. For the most part, the dogs and elephants make friendships with other animals of their species and ignore the other animals, but Bella and Tarra are different. They chose each other.
Tarra and Bella played together, ate together and even slept beside each other, but when Bella suffered a spinal cord injury, Tarra showed just how dedicated she was to her friend. For weeks, the elephant sat patiently just outside the sanctuary office where the dog was recuperating. After she was recuperated, the couple made a happy reunion and once again strolled and played through the park’s 2,700 acres.
Sources: #1, #2 Video link
Tigers and Orangutans
In the wild, Sumerian tigers would be happy to snack on a baby orangutans, but when you put two pairs of abandoned cubs together, natural instincts can sometimes fly out the window. Instead of attacking the young primates who were housed in the same nursery room, the two tiger cubs find them to be the best of bunk mates.
The animals are constantly monitored so any potential problems can be taken care of before there are any serious dangers, but so far the animals have all gotten along wonderfully. During the days, the orangutans spend the day swinging through the trees while the kittens take naps. At night, the group settles down to sleep, cuddling one another for warmth.
Source Video link
A Lion and A Meerkat
Invoking the spirit of Lion King, Zinzi the lion was only one day old when her mother started refusing to feed her, requiring the intervention of local zookeepers. After she was brought in to the zoo, she quickly attracted a fan, Bob the meerkat. Bob started following Zinzi and snuggling up with her during nap time. Quickly enough, they started doing everything together. Unlike the real Lion King friendship between Simba and Timon, one can assume that Zinzi hasn’t taken to eating bugs in place of meat as that would probably deprive him of too much energy.
Source
A Hamster and A Snake
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When Aochan the rat snake started to refuse to eat frozen mice, zookeepers put a dwarf hamster into his cage to whet his appetite. Shockingly, Aochan made friends with the little critter instead of chowing down. The pair became close friends and even started to share a cage together. Eventually Aochan’s diet picked back up, but he never showed any interest in trying to snack on his friend. Keepers named the hamster Gohan, after a common Japanese rice dish."I've never seen anything like it. Gohan sometimes even climbs onto Aochan to take a nap on his back," one of the keepers said.
Source Video link
There are plenty more adorable critter pairings out there, feel free to share your favorite stories in the comments!
As an aside, it's a pretty strange sight to see an elephant walking in a pine forest! (0:19)