Russian tiger befriends goat instead of eating it
Animal activists have reportedly called on an animal park in Russia to separate a goat from a tiger that befriended it instead of eating it.
The goat, since named Timur, was given to the tiger Amur (another name for Siberian tigers) as live food.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyqdq-FnPcc
The Far Eastern Safari Park, in the Primorsky region bordering the Sea of Japan and North Korea, said it gives predators twice-weekly meals of live animals.
"Tiger Amur knows very well how to hunt goats and rabbits," a keeper told the Siberian Times.
"But recently he came across a goat that he refused to hunt."
Instead, Timur chased Amur out of his sleeping quarters, banishing him to sleeping on the shelter's roof. Amur hissed at an employee who feeds the tigers, as if to tell him, 'Hey, don't you ever approach my friend'
Far Eastern Wildlife Park zookeeper
"We think that the goat never came across tigers and no-one taught him to be scared of them," the keeper said.
Videos uploaded by the park to YouTube show Timur staying close to Amur, following him around the enclosure, and enforcing their new sleeping arrangements.
Timur was named in honour of his bravery, after the lead character in popular Communist-era children's book Timur And His Squad.
He is being fed hay, wheat, feedstuff and water every day, Russian news website RT reported.
Timur's fans call on zoo to separate them
Despite the peaceful cohabitation, fans of Timur the goat have called on the zoo to separate them for Timur's safety, RT said.
Visitors to the zoo's website have left messages calling the goat "sensational" and saying "he has earned the right to live".
One visitor, Bogdan, wrote: "Let his story be not only about the compassion the tiger showed towards the brave goat, but about people showing humanism too."
Separating the two might be difficult, with Amur showing a protective attitude towards his new friend.
"[Amur] hissed at an employee who feeds the tigers, as if to tell him, 'Hey, don't you ever approach my friend'," RT reported a keeper saying.
"Before that, he never showed any aggression towards staff."
Tiger befriends goat instead of eating it; activists urge zoo to break up unlikely pair - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
"enforcing their new sleeping arrangements"
Would be the final humiliation if the goat started shagging the tiger!
