Why the deuce not? Here’s a wolf cub playing with a grizzly bear cub at the Woodland Zoo in Seattle. The pair remain fast friends after several years. As the YouTube notes say,
Lil’ Bear and Tala playing in the Gift Shop of the Woodland Zoo. Note: In the middle of the clip there are pictures of these guys as they are 6 years later. Also note that in the clip I keep referring to the bear as a “boy”, it’s actually a girl.
That is so cute, I’d love to see some video of them now.
Wow, this raises so many interesting behavioural questions, hardly know where to start. Best one to spring to mind: How long before we find out what makes these two different (eg in genetic terms) from their conspecifics who wouldn’t still get along after growing up? And where might the answer possibly lead?
Do we have to assume they are genetically unique? My inclination is to lean hard on the “nurture” side of this, rather than the “nature”.
Um, I assumed no such thing. I just assumed that they would be different from some of their brothers and sisters. And I didn’t assume a bogus nature–nurture dichotomy either. 😉
I dunno, I’ve just seen lots of examples of animals of different species growing up together and becoming friends. I don’t think it’s that rare in artificially controlled environments like homes or zoos.
I think that the group in which an animal is reared in makes a big difference – those in the group become part of the pack or troupe or whatever.
I’m sure loads of people can attest to cats and dogs becoming the best of friends in their own home, even though the same dog will retain its hunt-and-destroy instinct towards any interloper on its territory.
We brought a German Shepherd puppy into the house and our cat was delighted and taught the puppy how to chase bugs & butterflies, climb trees (with obvious limited success) and how to play-fight. Puppy began to outstrip Kitteh in size rapidly and yet knew that he was to never hurt his feline friend, even when the cat regularly drew blood in their games.
Eventually the games ceased but the cat still used the dog as a cushion on winter mornings for that added warmth and insulation 🙂
Moment of Squee: Aren’t they the most adorable!
Hmmm, so what are the chances of Lil’ Bear waking up one day and gobbling Tala down? I recall that happening to a human being who thought he was friends with bears.
You might be referring to the subject of the documentary “Grizzly Man” (by Werner Herzog), one I highly recommend: Man thinks he is friends with bears, bears eventually feel a bit hungry… Best quote, if I remember correctly, was by a local Native American (I paraphrase): “Bears are bears; people are people; the two don’t mix that well”.
Actually, they mix quite well, one inside the other….
🙂
Yes, this is a beautiful documentary. But I don’t think that it is so relevant here, since the bears in the movie were quite wild and, clearly, only just sort of barely tolerated that man who kept showing up among them (until they decided not to tolerate him anymore). I don’t think there was any playing involved, or any other friendly interaction.
Yeah, there was a girlfriend that got eaten, too, and an audio recording of it all. Gives me chills.
I’ve got a saying of my own: bears eat people, people don’t eat bears, so people should stay away from bears. 😉
Some people eat bears. Trichinosis (spelling? Nasty parasitic disease.) has happened to the humans in consequence.
Actually, the parasitic disease was a consequence of the humans being generally stupid, not of them eating bear specifically ; but YKWIM.
The zoo in Seattle is Woodland *Park*, so I don’t think this is the same place.
You’re right. This video appears to be from the gift shop of Woodland Zoo in Farmington, Pennsylvania.
I think you’re right about it not being the Seattle zoo, which I live near and visit a lot with my family. While Woodland Park does have a pair of grizzly bears, they are brothers and the zoo wouldn’t be likely to introduce a cub to males. Also, the Seattle organization produces a lot of high-quality videos (many of which are on Youtube), and I don’t think they’d risk exposing what appears to be rather unorthodox animal handling techniques (even if those critter antics are darn cute!)
Its a fantastic zoo, by the way – the Seattle one. Because of the “natural” way it’s laid out (very wooded, not cage after cage of animal) there’s a sense of discovery around every corner and in every nook and rock.
Seems downright normal, after seeing huskies playing with wild polar bears.
I think it would be an interesting research project in ethology to determine which species can establish bonds that supersede their instincts. Tigers an bears clearly cannot, at least not with humans. Perhaps we are not furry enough.
Or perhaps not funny enough.
Carl Zimmer has an interesting cover article in the current issue of Time magazine on “The Surprising Science of Animal Friendships.” Zimmer mentions several examples of supposed friendships, but is careful to point out the obvious scientific questions involved.
As ThreeNinjas has already pointed out, the correct name for the zoo in Seattle is the Woodland Park Zoo.