An adult brown bear with dark fur alongside an adult Siberian tiger, both in a natural outdoor setting with trees and sky visible during daytime. 1:52
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Bear, lion and tiger sleep in one big pile

Baloo, an American black bear, runs a very unusual household. He shares it with a lion and a tiger. more

Baloo has lived at a wildlife sanctuary in Atlanta since he was a little cub. He's about 12, a fully grown bear, and all his life he has kept company with two animals nobody would expect. And there's one of them now.

A person with dark hair tied back leans against a chain-link fence with one hand resting on it. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Someone leans on the chain-link fence of Baloo's home at the sanctuary.

It's a tiger. "I have never seen a fully grown bear and tiger in the same enclosure," one visitor says. This is Shere Khan, a Bengal tiger, also about 12.

There is good reason for the surprise. In the Far East, Asian black bears and tigers share the same ground, and when they meet, one of them ends up badly hurt or killed. These two lean in and nuzzle like old friends instead.

Two animals press their faces together near a fence, with a wooden shelter behind them. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Close to the fence, the friends lean in and nuzzle.

The third member of the group is a lion called Leo, and the pecking order is settled. The bear is the boss, and Leo comes second. Shere Khan is "a little wild child."

When it's time to sleep in the clubhouse, all three pile in together. They know each other, and they love each other.

An adult brown bear with dark fur alongside an adult Siberian tiger, both in a natural outdoor setting with trees and sky visible during daytime. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Baloo, an American black bear, runs a very unusual household.

The sanctuary's founder has looked after all three since they were a couple of months old. Back then, the wild child was a small tiger cub with wet fur and wide eyes.

A small tiger cub with wet fur sits by a wooden wall, looking ahead with wide eyes. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
The founder has cared for all three since they were a couple of months old.

Fans love that two of the names come straight out of The Jungle Book, and plenty can't resist the old line from The Wizard of Oz about lions and tigers and bears. For a bear, a lion and a tiger, the hardest part of the day seems to be finding room in the pile.

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