Rescued from a drug dealer as cubs, these three fierce predators are the best of friends at an animal sanctuary.
Lions and tigers and bears—oh my!
The combination of three of the fiercest predators on Earth might have frightened Dorothy, but Leo the lion, Baloo the bear, and Shere Khan the tiger have formed a close friendship at Noah’s Ark, a 250-acre animal rehabilitation center and children’s home in Locust Grove, Georgia.
The three male animals were rescued as babies from the home of a drug dealer, who had kept them as status symbols. At the time, they were only two months old, and had already bonded with one another.
“We could have separated them, but since they came as a kind of family, the zoo decided to keep them together,” Diane Smith, Noah’s Ark zoo’s assistant director, told The Telegraph.
The three furry friends have been living together there for eight years, but only recently moved to a new location where they are viewable to the public.
“It is wonderful and magical to see a giant American Black Bear put his arm around a Bengal tiger and then to see the tiger nuzzle up to the bear like a domestic cat,” said Smith. “When Leo wakes up the three of them mess around for most of the day before they settle down to some food.”
The zoo, just 30 miles outside of Atlanta, is free, though donations are appreciated. Funds go towards paying for food and other needs for the zoo’s more than 1,000 rescued animals, and to support the needs of the 24 children residing in Noah’s Ark’s residential care facility.
In a unique arrangement, the children are invited to assist in feeding and caring for orphaned baby wild animals—a form of “pet therapy” that helps the children, many of whom have been abused or neglected, to cope with their own emotional issues. The facility also offers educational opportunities to local schoolchildren, and has given terminally ill patients opportunities to get up close and personal with their favorite animals.
If you want to pay a visit to Leo, Baloo, and Shere Khan (the bear-lion-tiger combo is affectionately known as a “BLT”), visit Noah’s Ark’s website for directions. Otherwise, just check out the photos on Noah’s Ark’s Facebook page!