Russian_tiger_befriends_brave_goat_instead_of_eating_it

Birds of a feather flock together, but sometimes tigers and goats can become pretty good friends too!

This unlikely duo, living at the Far East Safari Park in the Primorsky region of Russia, has been warming hearts with their inspiring friendship. Amur the Siberian tiger was given a goat as one of his twice weekly live meals (he is given raw meat the rest of the week), but the goat apparently had other plans that didn’t include becoming dinner, and fought back against the tiger. Whether Amur backed down out of respect or because he felt a fighting for his meal wasn’t worth it is something only Amur knows, but in spite of their rocky beginning and natural predator-prey relationship, these two seem to be getting along rather well.

The goat was named Timur after the lead character in the popular Russian children’s book Timur and His Squad. Amur reportedly is now on an all pre-killed diet, and Timur is given food and water daily as well.

Surprisingly, it seems that Timur is the boss in this relationship, having run Amur out of his sleeping quarters and making him sleep on top of it instead! Aside from that, the fearless Timur can often be seen following Amur around the enclosure, giving him an occasional playful chase or headbutt.

Many are voicing concern that Amur’s natural prey drive will kick in again eventually, and that he and Timur should be separated before that happens. We do hope that the safety of both animals is being taken seriously, but judging from the videos, Timur seems pretty capable of holding his own!

Source: YouTube/Aleks Shtorm, YouTube/Euro news (in english)ABC News
Top image: YouTube/RT