Unlikely Animal Friendships

Unlikely Animal Friendships

There's a lot to love about baby hippo Owen, and nobody knows this better than this (male) giant Aldabran tortoise in Mombassa Haller Park in Kenya. The tortoise took on a "mother" role for the baby after Owen was separated from his mother in the devastating 2004 Asian tsunami. At the time of the picture, the odd couple had been together for about a year.

AP

Like Harold and Maude or Oscar and Felix, some couples are just odd. Here, you'll find a few unexpected but heart-warmingly adorable animal pals.

Schnitzel, a wild boar piglet, is just one of the guys. The little piglet was left behind when a German farmer ran the rest of her herd off from a friend's garden, and now, she pals around with his five dogs.

Phillip Guelland, AFP / Getty Images

Another "boar-ing" pair: Manni, a five-week-old boar, likes nothing better than goofing around with Candy, a Jack Russell terrier. The piglet was found abandoned in a forest in western Germany, and is now hand-fed.

Sascha Schuermann, AFP / Getty Images

Fighting like cats and dogs? Not this pair! The Ohio barn cat simply walked up to the neighbors' dog and decided they would be friends.

Amy Sancetta, AP

Leader of the pack, Muemue, is a fallow deer fawn who was rejected by other animals in his joint enclosure at the Kecskemet Game Park in Hungary. A keeper brought him home and, to his surprise, found that his greyhound accepted him and even nursed the young fawn. Obviously, his new canine brothers and sisters adored him, too, though Muemue was returned to his original family about a month later.

Sandor Ujvari, MTI / AP

Sometimes, nature and nurture are one and the same. This dog, Honey, hadn't given birth in a year and a half when her owner brought home Precious, a six-week-old kitten. Upon hearing the kitten's cries, Honey began producing milk and nursing the tiny feline.

Scott Mason, The Winchester Star / AP

Maybe Busch Gardens is actually the happiest place on Earth -- how else can you explain this bizarre pairing? Bea, a three-year-old giraffe, and Wilma, an ostrich, have formed quite the friendship recently, preferring each other's company to hanging out with members of their own species.

Matt Marriott, Busch Gardens / AP

After she lost her own child, locals noticed this monkey mama caring for a tiny puppy. Here, you can see her holding her little one close when another monkey approached.

Channi Anand, AP

Willy, a 10-year-old Red River porcine, found himself brokenhearted in 2005 when his mate died, but bounced back after meeting this 16-year-old bongo antelope named Nicole at the Los Angeles Zoo. We can't blame him for moving on -- she's a looker!

Jaime Pham, Los Angeles Zoo / AP

Hard to believe a mother could reject this sweet tiger cub, but that was the case in 2008 at the Warsaw Zoo. Zoya, just three months old, was without a mother and without a friend, so a zoo employee brought in his three-month-old Alsatian puppy, Frida, to provide companionship.

Alik Keplicz, AP