Amur the Siberian tiger and Timur the goat had been best buddies, sharing an enclosure in a Russian safari park, but they have now fallen out.
The unlikely pals have been captivating animal lovers since November, after the goat was placed in the tiger’s enclosure as a meal.
The pair are now being kept in separate enclosures after a fight broke out this week according to the Primorsky Safari Park
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Timur had to receive treatment after Amur turned on him, though probably for good reason.
The goat got a little too comfortable and became a tad too bold with the dangerous big cat.
“Timur went beyond all limits” the general director of the Primorsky Safari Park, Dmitry Mezentsev, wrote in a statement.
“He pushed Amur away from their hill with his horns; he butted him with his horns and kicked him with his legs.”
“Then the tiger “rose and grabbed Timur by the neck as one would a kitten, and threw him up in the air,” Mezentsev said, stressing that he would not call it an attack, but more a “lesson” to the goat.
According to RT:
The brazen goat went as far as scratching his horns on Amur’s delicate fur. He spent hours doing it, annoying the patient tiger further, until he couldn’t take it anymore and snapped at Timur. The video shows Amur jumping up and mauling the goat for a few seconds before throwing him to the ground and turning away.
Timur tried to get up, but couldn’t, he just lay there in the snow for a while, looking exceptionally sad.
Little did he know that a rescue operation was already underway: the staff were luring the big cat into a “canteen” with a live rabbit as his prey, so they could enter the enclosure and grab Timur.
Timur was then taken to the vet who examined him and said he was in good health, but needed rest after the shock.
“Time will tell if we will return him to Amur, it’s too early to tell. For the moment, he needs to recover and to rest.” Mezentsev told Russian media.
From its very beginning, the unusual friendship between the two unlikely buddies has sparked speculation. Both sceptics and fans couldn’t quite answer the question, “What keeps the tiger from eating the goat?”
