Tiny Wiener Dogs Run Into Lion’s Cage But Lion's Response Has Keepers Dumbfounded
Sep 05, 2020 by apost team
Abby, the dachshund, and Bonedigger, the male Barbary lion, are an extremely unlikely pair of friends. In what could be no more than a hotdog-sized snack for the cat, has become his lifelong companion.
Sometimes animals will surprise us in the best of ways. These best friends have surprised all the zookeepers with their bond despite their vast difference in size. It just goes to show that friendship knows no bounds!
Be sure to reach the end of this article to see the full video :-)
This is the story of a lion and his friendship with four "weenie dogs." His name is Bonedigger, and he's a Barbary lion. Out of the four dachshunds, Bonedigger is especially close to Abby.
Joe Exotic, the owner of Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park also known as the G.W. Zoo shares that Abby and the other weenies were introduced to the big cat when he was just six weeks old and as the narrator of the video calls it, it was "love at first sight."
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Park manager John Reikene says that he and the weenie dogs are "the only relationships that [Bonedigger] has." He adds that no one else can get in the cage with the beast as he would run them out and get aggressive with them. But he's never tried that with Reikene.
"I've never been in fear while I'm in [the cage] and the weenie dogs have never been in fear while in there," shares Reikene. In the video, the park manager even shares that Bonedigger experiences a little bit of separation anxiety when the weenie dogs are not with him for "five or 10 minutes" but "acts like they've been gone forever."
When they 'reunite', the lion and dogs would nuzzle one another. Bonedigger and the dogs spend their days playing tag and even biting fleas off each other (something Reikene says Bonedigger learned from watching the weenie dogs). But it's very clear that Abby is his favorite.
Summarizing their friendship, park manager John Reikene says,
"The lesson that you get from Abby and Bonedigger living together is... He is a wild animal but he can be tamed. A weenie dog is a tamed animal but it can be wild. There's a little bit of each animal in each one of them.
They really do defy the odds! What do you think about this friendship? Pass it along to your friends and family to get their opinions!