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Baby Monkey Becomes Best Friends With Tiger Cub At Zoo

Baby Monkey Becomes Best Friends With Tiger Cub At Zoo

Ban Jin and September are the best of pals after growing up together.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

A baby monkey and tiger cub's friendship has gone viral around the world after a video of them playing together at a zoo in China was released.

The clip was shared by the Hengshui Wildlife Park, near Beijing, and it's definitely the thing you need to see on a Friday.

It shows the monkey, a four-month-old macaque named Ban Jin, clinging onto the back of the baby tiger, a three-month-old called September, as they walk around and explore their surroundings.

A zookeeper has told the Daily Mail the two formed an inseparable bond because they were born around the same time.

Ms Dai, a park manager, told the news publication: "They like to spend time together. We would let them play together sometimes. At first, Ban Jin was quite afraid [of the tiger]. But they quickly became familiar with each other and are now best friends."

Hengshui Wildlife Park/Douyin

People have fallen in love with the pair since the Hengshui Wildlife Park shared a video of the pair on the Chinese version of TikTok called Douyin.

The video has attracted more than 200,000 views and has won hearts all over the country.

One person wrote: "Ban Jin is getting bolder these days. Look how much he enjoys the piggyback!"

Another added: "What an adorable combo. The little monkey wants to play with the little tiger."

Animals become best friends with each other all the time, despite being different species.

Elsa the koala and Hope the wombat became unlikely mates during the coronavirus pandemic after the Australian Reptile Park was forced to shut.

Staff say that even after the park reopened to the public, they were still inseparable. A zoo or animal facility wouldn't normally have two startlingly different animals in one enclosure, but they might have to make exceptions for this pair.

Curator Hayley Shute said: "Hope is a little ray of sunshine and we just knew the two of them would enjoy getting to know each other.

"It makes for one cute video that's for sure! It's a very special friendship these two have formed and I can't wait to see it continue to blossom.

"Our iconic koala is sadly experiencing a large decline in numbers due, in part, to the tragic bush fires we had earlier this year and they're on the trajectory to be extinct in the wild by 2050."

The two reportedly struck up their friendship when Hope was allowed into the koala enclosure to feast on the new leaves left by the supervisors.

The two animals locked eyes and realised that this could be the start of a very beautiful friendship.

Featured Image Credit: Hengshui Wildlife Park/Douyin

Topics: News, Animals