We’ve all seen The Fox and The Hound, right? That cute—and somewhat tragic—Disney movie where a hunting dog befriends a mischievous fox. Even as they grow apart, the friendship still remains.
But what about a brown bear and a wolf—two alpha predators who are often in competition for the same prey? Back in 2013, Finnish wildlife photographer, Lassi Rautiainen proved this Disney-style friendship is indeed possible, and it took place in the Finnish wilderness.
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An Unlikely Pair in the Finnish Wilderness
Over ten days in the Finnish wilderness back in 2013, Rautiainen documented an amazing friendship. A male brown bear and a female wolf were seen walking around everywhere together. They were even hunting together!
Their favorite meal appeared to be freshly killed deer. So every night, they’d set out a picnic blanket and a few candles—just kidding. But they were seen chowing down together nightly!
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After spending 10 days taking these photos, Rautiainen told The Daily Mail, “It’s very unusual to see a bear and a wolf getting on like this. From what I could find, it’s actually the first time, at least in Europe, where such a friendship was developed.”
In fact, it’s unclear how or why this unlikely duo became friends—though, bears can be playful creatires. “I think that perhaps they were both alone and they were young and a bit unsure of how to survive alone,” said Rautiainen. “It is nice to share rare events in the wild that you would never expect to see.”
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There’s still so much about the animal kingdom that we don’t know. The fact that these two creatures were able to put aside their differences in species is simply incredible. Rautiainen even caught the two playing from time to time:
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There are no scientific studies for this kind of wildlife kinship. Our guess is as good as yours. But it’s nice to think that, despite their differences, they were able to come together as one, teaming up for the hunt, even if only for just ten days. Maybe we all could learn a lesson from this brown bear and lone wolf.
If you’d like to see more of these images, you can check them out here! Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
