This was in the news back in 2013, but the story just made it into my email inbox today. It’s a fabulous story of relationship and love between species that aren’t typically thought to make ideal bunk mates: A Black Bear, an African Lion and an Bengal Tiger are not only living peacefully together at a wild animal rescue center in Georgia (Noah’s Ark Animal Sanctuary, GA, USA), they are so devoted to one another that they can’t “bear” to be separated (Sorry, just had to do that one). 🙂
Here is the ABC News clip (click on the image below to be taken to the video, which will open in a new window) and the written story as posted on April 10, 2013. Below are some pictures that were included in the email I received.
Accompanying the emailed photos was the following story:
“They came from a background of abuse and fear. Now they’ve bonded and are truly inseparable. This is Leo the African Lion, Baloo the Black Bear, and Shere Khan the Bengal Tiger.
Chillin’ time
Unlikely Trio
“Our House”
The threesome were rescued as babies from the basement of an Atlanta drug dealer’s home when it was raided by authorities. They were starving, traumatized, and had bacterial infections.
Since then, they were brought to Noah’s Ark Animal Sanctuary where they’ve lived in the same habitat for 13 years.
The only time the three were separated was when Baloo was sent to surgery. While at the drug dealer’s home, Baloo had been mistreated so profoundly that the harness that was put on him had grown into his skin! The two cats were distraught and cried for the bear’s return while he was at the vet’s. Since then, no one has separated the group.
They had clearly bonded during their earliest memories, and never wanted to be apart. They live together as if they were brothers of the same species. They play together, nuzzle one another, and are extremely affectionate.
The threesome are the only lion, tiger, and bear living together in the world. They’re exceptional. Humans could really learn from the bond that these three have. No one told them they couldn’t love one another, so they did just that. And now, even all these years later, they continue to do so.”
Exceptional, indeed!
Have you heard of any other unlikely pairings that live and love harmoniously together? If so, please share!
Angels Bark 
Now “We Are The World” is playing in my head. Interesting story. I recall back in the 60’s my family worked a Shrine Circus date with the wild animal act was some crazy guy named Joe Frisco. Instead of the typical lions or tigers, he had an act that consisted of lions, tigers, and bears all in the same cage with him. That guy was like a mad man. Don’t know whatever happened to him but it was one heck of a wild animal act and I usually don’t like that sort of thing.
Lee
Tossing It Out
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Oh boy, circuses have been on my mind lately. Troubling me. Not surprising, I am against circus acts that involve animals. There has been so much documentation and undercover video surveillance that show how often the animals are abused and tortured by their trainers and handlers that it just makes my skin crawl. (You may have seen my blog post for last year’s A-Z: E is for Elephants: https://angelsbark.wordpress.com/2014/04/05/e-is-for-elephants/ ). This past week the Shrine Circus was in town and I’m usually one to want to get out and protest the circus. They had an Open to the Public event on Friday whereby they brought out the elephants to serve them a brunch and people could stand around and watch the elephants eat. It was a family-friendly gathering, lots of kids, etc. A friend and I went; I went with the intention of seeing if I could ascertain the general mood of the elephants: did they look happy, did they look sad, did they look well-cared for, etc. They brought out four of the big beauties and served them quite the colorful feast: a huge table filled with bananas, apples, heads of lettuce and carrots. The elephants were quite interested in these tasty treats but after about 20 minutes, they grew tired of eating. And then they paraded them around once and took them back into the arena. I found myself standing there, of course in awe of these massive intelligent and sensitive beings but at the same time I stood there looking at their trainers, wondering “Are you one of those horrible trainers who beats your elephant?” It made me so uneasy to have to be questioning that. I worried for their well-being and I prayed for them as they walked on past. As time goes on and more and more people become aware of how inhumanely treated circus animals are, more and more circuses are doing away with animal acts. Anyway, Thanks Lee, for sharing your experience in seeing the same trio of wild animals together that we see here. It’s amazing to comprehend how these three can not only cohabitate peacefully but are bonded in a loving relationship. So neat! Thanks for reading my post. I always appreciate your comments.
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What a beautiful story Michele.. It is amazing for them to bond together like this. Aren’t Gods creations so wonderful.. This is the way it will be in Heaven. We will be able to sit down with the Lions and Tigers and all wild and tame animals and not have to worry about getting attacked.. Thanks for sharing!!
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Won’t that be wonderful Mattie?! Thanks so much for reading and commenting. I appreciate it so much! talk soon. love you!
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