“Unlikely Animal Friendships”

“Unlikely Animal Friendships”

An orphaned rhesus monkey and white dove that seemed to have lost its mate forged a special bond at the Neilingding Island-Futian National Nature Reserve in China. The monkey was born on the island but had strayed from its mother. Luckily, it was taken in by work staff in the protection center and became friends with the pigeon that had lingered there after possibly losing its mate.

It’s not clear why or when this stray black cat turned up in the bear enclosure at the Berlin Zoo. But something is clear: She’s been coming back for 10 years to see her friend, the oldest known female Asiatic bear.

Chicks perch on a Siamese-snowshoe cat, who keeps the little ones in a line with her nose, and a pit bull, who is a loving father figure to many animals on their Texas farm. 

A big goldfish, or koi, named Falstaff swims over to the pond’s edge for another meeting with a golden retriever named Chino in a backyard pond in Oregon. 

An orphaned Madagascar teal duckling snuggles under orphaned kookaburra (a predator to the former).

A young elephant, who lost his mama, cozies up to his comforting sheep pal at the Shamwari Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in South Africa. 

A cockatoo named Coco throws her whole body into a backrub for cohabiting friend, house tabby Lucky, in Savannah, Georgia. 

A leopard lies down with a cow. An elephant cuddles a sheep. A housecat curls up with an iguana. These are just a few of the 47 heartwarming stories of interspecies friendship, documented in amazing photographs, that challenge everything we think we know about animals and the lives they lead.