Zoo officials offered a goat as 'live feed' but ended up becoming the tiger's best friend instead

They say chance encounters often lead to the most cherished friendships, but who knew this would turn true when a goat was thrown into a tiger’s enclosure as his live feed? Well, Timur, the goat, was sent into Amur, the giant tiger's enclosure in Russia, as his weekly live feed, but defying the law of nature, the two became friends, grabbing widespread attention for their unique friendship. 

According to The News Minute, the goat didn't fear the tiger at all. In fact, he took over the big cat's shelter. "The brave goat not only saved his own life, but he also kicked the tiger out of his bedroom and is sleeping on Amur's 'bed' for the fourth night. We named the goat Timur — he was just a nameless prey when he entered the cage — out of respect for his bravery," the staff at the Far Eastern Safari Park at Shkotovsky, in the Primorsky region, revealed. In a video shared by u/vtosnaks (on Reddit), Timur is seen walking behind Amur, his majestic friend, like a true, loyal follower. In fact, according to The Siberian Times, the goat reportedly would get nervous if his tiger friend, Amur, was not beside him. 

Dmitry Mezentsev, the director of Shkotovo safari park, shared that Timur was often seen copying Amur, mimicking his hunting style. When the incredible story of Timur and Amur went viral, not everyone seemed very optimistic about their very unlikely friendship. Zoo expert Rostislav Shilo had said, "There is an 80-85% chance that he will eat the goat. We had a vulture living with hares for some years. In winter, a hare can climb under its wing and sleep. I also remember a cat who lived with a rat. Such things happen. This is not unique, but always interesting." As expected, their 'bromance' came to an end when the goat began challenging the big cat.

In January 2016, Amur lost his calm after the goat stepped on him, so he grabbed Timur and threw him off a hillock. The authorities separated the once inseparable duo, but the goat's health deteriorated beyond recovery. He began to limp and lost a significant portion of his enthusiasm. While he was sent to Moscow for treatment, he couldn't recover from his scuffle with Amur. "Timur's heart stopped beating on November 5," shared Mezentsev in 2019. Per Phys Org, a mourner said, "Fearless Timur, you will forever remain in our hearts," in keeping with which the owners have decided to erect a bronze statue in the goat's honor.

u/darkestvice commented, "Makes sense. A lot of predators are 'triggered' by a prey's fear response. If the prey runs, the predator chases. Drop a particularly brave (or dumb) animal in there that tries to make friends, and the predator will be at first confused but then think, 'Oh, I have a new friend now? Cool! I have a new friend now!'" Similarly, a user who goes by u/andyofne wrote, "On a smaller scale. I have a turtle that periodically likes to eat live feeder goldfish, but I have a goldfish that is now like 10 years old and as big as my fist that my turtle refused to eat; I am not sure they are 'friends,' but it's a thing."

Another user, u/external_mongoose_44, commented, "The goat probably smelled too dominant or something; male goats have the most incredibly gagging smells, and they certainly do not smell appetizing." u/trustedtot24 shared, "This reminds me of a time a couple of years ago. My brother had 5 guinea pigs, and one by one they died of old age. He ended up getting a cat when he still had one guinea pig left. Then the she-cat (female) never attacked him even when he was out of his cage. She gave him a bunch of taps on the butt, and he didn't run, so she didn't know how to respond. My best guess is that he was used to us big humans touching him, so her paw taps didn't trigger a panic response. He passed about a month later, but he was never hurt by the cat."