Cynthia the Kodiak Bear enjoys a whole Tasmanian Atlantic Salmon to celebrate her 28th birthday at Taronga Zoo on January 17, 2005 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
They make an unlikely trio, but Baloo the bear, Leo the lion and Shere Khan the tiger have forged an unusually strong bond.
Considering that they would be mortal enemies if they ever were to meet in the wild, it is stunning to see their unique and genuine friendship in these intimate pictures.
Rescued eight years ago during a police drugs raid in Atlanta, Georgia, the three friends were only cubs at the time at barely two months old.
The stunning shots capture the moment a female bear and her two cubs enjoyed the last warm rays of the sun at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Kaktovik, Alaska. The bears can be seen gazing at the vibrant sunset and appear to revel in the tranquil moment as they bask in the array of colors. (Photo by Sylvain Cordier/Caters News)
It's not often that two ferocious tigers have to beat a hasty retreat from a confrontation. But it seems that the wrath of a mother bear protecting two cubs on her back was more than enough to scare this pair off. Wildlife photographer Aditya Singh captured the encounter during a visit to Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan, India.
A pair of gloved hands are dwarfed by the furry paws of Boris the Polar Bear at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium's animal health care hospital Saturday, February 23, 2013 in Tacoma, Washington. (Dean J. Koepfler/Tacoma News Tribune/MCT)
Visitors watch as members of a local winter swimmers club pour buckets of cold water over their daughters, 7-year-old Liza Broverman and 2-year-old Alisa Smagina during a celebration of Polar Bear Day at the Royev Ruchey zoo, with the air temperature at about minus 5 degrees Celsius (23 degrees Fahrenheit), in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, November 27, 2016. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)