Strange Friends: Bear, Lion and Tiger Share a Sad Past Making Them BFFs for 15 Years

Hardly can you find a bear, lion and tiger friends, who are enjoying each other's company in the same spot every single day. But this trio at Noah's Ark Animal Shelter (NAAS) in Locust Grove, Georgia, had been together for 15 years, and as the rescue center staff would say, are the best of friends.

The three will remind you of the famous characters of "Jungle Book." In fact, the rescue center has named the American black bear as Baloo, the African lion as Leo, and the Bengal tiger as Shere Khan. The three make a strange companionship since animal experts say that it is very rare for these animals, which are from different species, to live with each other in the same enclosure as they tend to misinterpret one another.

According to Yahoo News, one of the curators in NAAS, Allison Hedgecoth, said that these bear, lion and tiger friends are different. She said, "Even though they live in a three-acre enclosure, they're usually within 100 feet of each other." Hedgecoth further explained the animals' behavior saying, "That's proof that they're not just coexisting or cohabiting, they actually do enjoy each other's company."

Another characteristic that makes these bear, lion and tiger friends unique is that they love to eat together. Bears and the cat family, which includes the lion and the tiger, don't want to share their food and wouldn't normally welcome any distraction during mealtime. But the opposite is shown by these animals.

Daily Mail reported that the trio was found by police when they were still cubs in a home basement in Atlanta, which was raided for drugs back in 2001. Since the bear, lion and tiger cubs spent their days together, they must have made an unusual bond, which makes them treat one another without any difference.

When they were found, they were suffering from severe injuries, including external and internal parasites, albeit, it was the bear cub who was in the direst condition. A harness was already digging into his flesh, which required surgical removal.

Baloo's surgery was the only time that the bear, lion and tiger friends were separated from each other. According to Hedgecoth, she believes that the three friends will continue to enjoy each other's presence for more years.