We all believe that wild animals should be kept imprisoned among humans. However, there could be instances where the wild animals might have to live among us in captivity for their own safety and wellbeing. One such compelling reason would be if a baby animal loses their motherly instincts before they could fend for themselves which could mean certain death in the unforgiving wilderness.
The story we bring you today revolves around a small tiger cub, who found a family in an unlikely place. In a friendly little canine. The Bengal tiger cub “Hunter”, was born in Pretoria, South Africa, on the Farm Inn Wildlife Sanctuary. It was an extremely nerve-wracking and hard time for all the staff thereafter the cub got abandoned by his mom.
“We believe that Hunter was born at a time when the female must have felt compromised in some way as she rejected him,” Anthea Michaletos, volunteer at the sanctuary said.
Since they knew it was a life-or-death situation, staff tried their best to find a suitable animal to pair with him so that he can learn how to be a big cat. And that’s when they found Chelsea, a little German Pointer, who instantly bonded with him.
These little ones look like they are joined at the hip. “In the mornings when I take Chelsea out, she will run to his cage and greet him,” she said.
“There is a lot of wrestling involved, Chelsea pushes him over and then he jumps on her.
“He was the only cub in his litter and it’s very important for him to have a companion.”
No matter how close and inseparable they look, the time Hunter spent with Chelsea is closely supervised as Hunter is a wild animal. According to the staff at the wildlife sanctuary when Hunter becomes 6 months old, the 2 will have to be separated for the dog’s safety.
But for the time being, these two seem to be the cutest BFFs in the world.
