MOSCOW — An unlikely friendship between a tiger and a goat who was supposed to be his dinner has charmed Russia.
In a zoo in the far reaches of Siberia, predator and prey have become best buddies. Amur the tiger and Timur the goat’s charmed life started in late November, when Amur decided not to eat the goat when it was unleashed into his enclosure.
The intention was that the goat would be a gastronomic delight, not a playpal. But instead the two animals appear to have bonded, sharing a food bowl and appearing to play with each other by romping through Amur’s pen.
Before the new year, they had already drawn enough attention that the Primorsky Safari Park set up a live webfeed of the enclosure. But they rocketed to stardom when one of Russia’s state-run television networks unveiled a 44-minute documentary ode to their friendship during the slow news week between New Year’s Day and Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7, a time when all of Russia is on holiday.
