In an animal sanctuary in the United States, an unlikely friendship has flourished between three apex predators; Leo the lion, Shere Khan the tiger, and Baloo the bear.
They were rescued as cubs in 2001 following a police raid on a drugs gang in Atlanta, Georgia, who were keeping the wild animals as status symbols.
The three, hailing from different continents, were turned over to Noah's Ark Animal Rescue Centre in Locust Grove, Georgia, about 64 km south of Atlanta.
The youngsters seemed to get along, so Noah's Ark keepers allowed them to live together.
"Nine years later they are still together, best of friends and you know, they're just like a family," Charles Hedgecoth Senior, Co-Founder of Noah's Ark and the animals' caretaker said.
"I wouldn't ever separate them."
The three friends live in a specially built enclosure, complete with a club house which has three red Christmas stockings hanging over the door.
Noah's Ark, which also provides a children's care home, houses around 1,200 rescued animals, and is free to the public, surviving on donations.
APTN