Cats and dogs?! For animals, friendship does not depend on age, coat color or species.
A good example is the story of a Bengal tiger cub named Hunter and a puppy named Chelsea. They are completely different from each other. But that didn’t stop them from becoming best friends! It’s amazing and very cute.
Hunter is three weeks younger than Chelsea. Both babies are being cared for by 22-year-old Anthea Michaletos, who lives in a nature reserve in Pretoria, South Africa, where small animals also live.
Although the life of animals now seems fun and peaceful, Hunter faced great difficulties. The tiger cub was born in the reserve. But soon after his birth, his mother began to behave aggressively towards him. The baby had to be weaned from the tigress.
“Obviously, the baby was born when the mother, for some unknown reason, felt in danger and therefore rejected the tiger cub,” his rescuer suggests. Without human intervention, the tiger cub would not have been able to survive in the wild. The absence of his mother gave him a chance to find a friend.
The staff of the reserve introduced Chelsea to the tiger cub and since then they have always been together. When Anthea lets Chelsea out of the cage, the dog immediately runs to his striped friend.
Having no brothers and sisters, Hunter had a friend, albeit of a different kind. Anthea says that playing with a puppy has the same learning effect as playing with peers of his kind. The main thing is that he is not alone. And when the animals are closed for the night in separate cages, the puppy is always angry.
But they will only be able to play up to a certain age. When the tiger cub turns six months old, he is separated from Chelsea for his safety. Unfortunately, the probability that the tiger cub that grows up will be able to harm Chelsea is too great. He already has a tendency to grab the puppy’s throat during games and fights.
But while Chelsea tolerates all the rough games of the tiger cub, because he tries not to harm the puppy. Half a year is a sufficient period for the development of such a friendship, says Anthea. As they get older, they stop needing to play and start fighting for real.