March 9, 2007: Young orangutans and tigers hang out together

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Lurker HungLikeJesus sends this along; according to the Daily Mail story,

Two Sumatran tiger cubs and two baby orangutans, each pair abandoned by their mother soon after birth, have become inseparable playmates in the nursery room of an animal hospital in Indonesia.

Nia and Irma happily snuggle up to the cubs in a way that five-month-old orangutan sisters would never normally contemplate.

Likewise, Dema and his month-old sister Manis are quite content to snooze in the gentle embrace of their tiny guardians' arms.

Both pairs are bottle-fed by staff at the Taman Safari animal hospital in Java, and monitored constantly as they grow up side by side in what must be one of nature's most unusual foursomes.

A foursome that will have to be broken up soon, no doubt. Another story notes,

The exceptional friendship will likely be short-lived, said veterinarian Retno Sudarwati, because as the animals grow up their natural survival instincts will kick in.

"When the time comes, they will have to be separated. It's sad, but we can't change their natural behavior," she said. "Tigers start eating meat when they are three months old."

And Orangutans are meat. Oh well, it's cute while it lasts.