Lion, Tiger And Bear (Oh My!) Are Real-Life Best Friends

This post was written by Jenny Kutner on The Dodo.

Noah’s Ark, a non-profit animal sanctuary in Locust Grove, Georgia, is home to the most animal-friendly BLT imaginable: a lion, tiger and bear trio (known collectively, as you might’ve guessed, as BLT). They all live in the same enclosure and exhibit some of the most intense interspecies love we’ve ever seen. The three are the only known lion, tiger and bear to live together in harmony outside the Land of Oz, but it’s not surprising: as My Modern Metropolis explains, Baloo the black bear, Leo the lion, and Shere Khan the tiger were rescued from the same horrifying conditions in an Atlanta basement during a 2001 drug raid, and have overcome the same difficult obstacles together.

Baloo, Leo and Shere Khan have all recovered fully in the decade-plus they’ve spent at Noah’s Ark, and the three have only grown closer with time. They are, truly, a family.

Photos via Noah’s Ark.