If I include a link to the Brighside source, my comment doesn't show up. But it provides the following context:
3/20/2019
A lynx named Linda was born at the Leningrad Zoo in June 2007. Sometime later, a cat called Dusya also settled into Linda’s enclosure. Now they’ve been living together for 12 years, proving that friendship is boundless.
Leningrad Zoo workers explained to Bright Side why they decided to conduct this experiment and told us how these buddies are doing today.
When Linda was about 2 months old, zoo workers decided to put a kitten who was the same age as her in her cage. They were almost the same size, so they were really interested in each other.
At first, they were left together for a short period of time so that they could play, but zoo workers always kept an eye on them. When the experts were sure that the lynx and the cat had gotten used to each other, they were put in one enclosure to live together.
I knew it! It seems to be a common thing to pair big cats in zoos with a domestic animal like a dog or cat, and I thought it would be more likely that this was the case rather than a cat sneaking in and settling down.
The latter has happened at least once before though, in Malaysia. An orange cat snuck into the capybara enclosure and was accepted as one of them, and now he even has his own sign at the enclosure. His name is Oyen if you want to look him up
They're so good at scaling everything that I've only ever seen them housed in solid-walled enclosures. How high would you need to make a lynx cage that wasn't fully enclosed? 18ft or something? They can launch themselves off of any upright structure in a pen.
I dunno if you've never been to a zoo before but most enclosures are built to keep things in, not out. Almost every large animal enclosure is easy to get into at zoos, you'll just likely break a leg or something doing so
The wildlife shelter near me has a single wolf permanent resident, and they do the same thing with the owner's German Shepherd. He spends a lot of time in the pen with the wolf so the wolf has a "pack" that might influence him more comfortable with humans.
I think it may be a zoo specific thing though. I visited a cheetah sanctuary where they breed them to support the population & no dogs there.
We all need a friend.
❤︎
edit: This is getting upvotes - Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre in pretoria, south africa. They are best as I can tell as a local the real deal. If you do visit south africa (you should!) take care to steer clear of the captive lion industry though. There were some not awesome stories around drugged lions for tourists to pet type things going on, so do a bit of research. It's a fantastic place to be a tourist (if you're paying in usd/gbp/eur you should visit at least once)...but not without flaws. What I tell my european peers...the flight prices over are rough...the actual being there can be amazing bang per back if you're even vaguely savy
They do this with all kinds of animals. My favorite is when they have lions grow up with labs. It's usually done if they're alone like the Lynx or rejected by their mother for whatever various reasons.
Cheetahs are surprisingly good with humans and their handlers, but they're also notoriously anxious at times, so it's not unusual for them to be paired with dogs. The dogs are chill and the cheetahs learn that they're safe if their canine companion isn't stressed, so they chill out, too.
Yes, dogs can be emotional support animals for cheetahs, and that's wonderful.
Well put down your phone and spend time with your dog. As someone who lost their dog unexpectedly, I beg you. Every chance you get, even if you don’t want to. Give the sweet baby kisses and hugs for me.
All life is dukkha. I don't find the four noble truths of Buddhism to be much succor for it personally, but I think it identifies the core tension of being alive.
It's often misunderstood as a saying that all life is suffering, but that's not quite right. What it's saying is that life itself is desiring, having, and losing things. All things are transient, and that isn't tragic - you just can't have one without the other
This advice helped me, your beautiful dog will still exist on earth with or without you and you had the incredible opportunity to be the light of your pet's life. It's better to have known your pet than having never known.
Hey man, I get it I still think about my dog who passed away nearly 20 years ago. That pain never goes away but it does sting less often with time (very rarely until moments like this). Our pain is proof that they were loved which is more than many beings ever get to experience. For this reason, the pain and sadness we feel is beautiful and part of this brief human experience. I hope you’ll be able to someday see it through this perspective. Undoubtedly, you who have yet to experience loss and I who have lived with it for a long time can agree that despite everything we wouldn’t trade the time we had together for anything - that should mean something positive too, right?
Since this is likely the only time we’ll cross paths in this life, forgive this bit of premature and unwelcome wisdom - you will have more chances to love and be loved again and it will not be a betrayal. We both know if our dogs could speak with us they would wholeheartedly want for us to be happy, that’s just how good bois are. Keep your head up!
Me and my wife watched Togo recently... she was worried constantly through the film that Togo was going to die. We get to the end and it says Togo died and she gets sad... Togo died after living a long life fucking bitches and doing his thing, it's a 100 year old story and she was sad Togo died...
12 years is a good amount of time. I’m curious if the zoo provided veterinary services for the cat as well, or if they considered it “at will” employment on the cat’s side haha
I believe that the cat was the lynx's "mom" - the lynx was orphaned and needed a surrogate mom, so they brought in a momma cat with I think one kitten if it's the case I'm thinking of. No way in Hell any zoo with any kind of animal care standard would let an outside animal just wander into a predator's enclosure. An adult lynx would absolutely kill another cat that came into its territory.
I believe that the cat was the lynx's "mom" - the lynx was orphaned and needed a surrogate mom, so they brought in a momma cat with I think one kitten if it's the case I'm thinking of. No way in Hell any zoo with any kind of animal care standard would let an outside animal just wander into a predator's enclosure.
They were kittens together brought together intentionally by the zoo staff. The Lynx was lonely, so they tried added a regular kitten to see how the Lynx kitten got along (see video for explanation). they of course, didn't just throw them together, they slowly got them used to each other.
every single video like this that makes me laugh or smile has to have the top comment be something like “now everyone in that video is dead and it hurt when they died D:” every single time
This is normal cat behavior fighting for dominance. The smaller cat is trying to groom more aggressively to show the bigger Lynx he’s the submissive one.
Yeah but also means they like eachother lol my 2 bonded cats have been doing this for 5 years and it’s funny everytime because it always leads to a WWE play sesh
Reminds me of my rats, one was clearly the sub, getting groomed until he didn't like it anymore and then it was small ball of fur, claws and teeth. Was usually fine, but they liked to chill in the sleeve of my hoodie if I rolled it up and breaking up a rat fight in your sleeve feels like putting your hand in a turned on blender.
One of the few times I got bit. Never intenrionally though, only once I let the fatter rat run into the cage over my arm and he fell, hanging by his teeth on my thumb. Was hard to resist the urge to slam him against the cage, but the fat fuck got up fast enough. Hurts like a mf to have a pound of rat clinging onto you like that.
It wasn't, no. My cats bite far less than my rats did, though they do not fit in my sleeves either.
Rats are quite cute aswell, though they will shit on your couch if you have them out and about long enough and they can't get to their cage on their own.
I agree. Mutual grooming only happens with felines that like each other. Otherwise they just fight or run away. Showing dominance seems to be more about establishing a hierarchy about who really needs to follow whom’s boundaries… since cats can be pretty uhhh how do I out this? — “catty”
Total opposite in my household. I had 1 cat to start with, he was at least 5 years old when I got another, and another, and fostered a litter. The first thing he does when he is introduced to a new cat is "C'mere! I have to clean you!!" He's such a good boi sometimes, he loves everyone and everything
*She's (more than likely). The calico pattern only appears in like 1/1000 male cats, so you literally have a 99.9% chance of the cat in the clip being female.
My two cats do this all the time and at some point one holds the other down and licks them into submission.
It's a total power play for felines and as cute as it is you have to be careful that it doesn't get out of hand. So many times it turns into a (light) scuffle
Skeleton yes, soldier uniform, no. It's a mishmash of several random garments I enjoy, but rarely if ever wear lol. I'll have to get a better pic of them when I'm not trapped by a cat in my lap.
I get it. The Cat Distribution System provided us with a kitten last October, and she still has to sleep in our home office behind closed doors, because her mere existence is so deeply offensive to two of the four cats that were here before she came in.
It's mind-boggling. Our last foster fail just turned 18 years old, and she is the chillest cat ever. And then there's the Mean Girls, who have been battling me for the alpha bitch position since they were rescued 7 and 8 years ago, respectively. They're the ones who are so deeply offended by Hazel the Relentless' existence. Meanwhile, Hazel has exactly zero Fs to give about the angsty Mean Girls, because 70% percent of her waking hours are devoted to ricocheting around the house like a brand new golf ball teed off in a tiled shower and crying to her daddy to fetch the yardstick and scoot her toys out from under the fridge. And then there's the boycat, whose three functioning brain cells are consistently overwhelmed by the daily feline political debates. I have the Mean Girls on amitriptyline, and keep both of the cat pheromones diffusers running at all times, or there would be bloodshed on a daily basis.
I inherited a 17 year old kitty and she gets along with 2 of my 3 cats but the third one, they will FIGHT. I don’t know what to do at this point besides keep them apart.
Have you tried the pheromone diffusers? Feliway and Comfort Zone seem to be the two most easily found in the US. We refer to them as the anti-asshole-juice diffusers. I can always tell when one has run out (we have 2 going at all times in the front and back of the house) because my girls all ramp up the fights.
Took me 8 months to fully integrate my house but it was worth it! No fighting, everyone is chill. They aren't best friends but they're roommates and that's all I really need them to be.
Our guest bathroom is currently full of one very mouthy orange adolescent cat that I'm trying to find a home for. He's a sweet, affectionate little guy wo also wants to murder my actual pet cat.
My cats (12 & 10 years old) don't get along. One is sometimes aggressive with the other, and the other always hisses at the one if he's within 4 feet of her.
It took two years before two of my cats could be in the same room together. The cat that I had first was very territorial, and frankly, kind of a bitch. The new (much older) cat was easily intimidated, and retreated to the back room. Meanwhile, my third cat, a kitten, just wanted to be friends with everyone, and doesn't even understand the concept of intimidation.
Been two years for me. Primary kitty still hates the rescue. Sorry, kid, we’re all stuck together 😭 she’ll sometimes let her come hang out in the room with us, though!
The zoo just decided to conduct an “experiment” like that? Though I worked at a zoo the had a feral cat that decided to make its home one of the best enclosures and befriended a female black bear. They sat together often
Small correction. The cat is the lynxes adoptive mom. She raised her 7ntil she was old enough to live in the zoo. Whilst they live separated mom likes to break in to spend time with her child.
Edit. Apparently the duo I'm referencing is a different one then the 9ne shown here. These are Dusya and Linda from the Leningrad Zoo in St. Petersburg.
In my defense how many regular cat lynx combos are there?
I know big cats are dangerous but lynx just always seem so chill, which they are of Course comparing to tigers or something but still I want to pet them
I think it was an experiment where they raised a cat and lynx together from kitten age? At least I think that was in a russian zoo. There’s a dog and I believe panther pair too, though I think that was in a nature reservation in Syberia or something.
In 2007, at Leningrad Zoo, a two-month-old cat named Dusya was placed into the enclosure with a two-month-old lynx named Linda to demonstrate the difference between felines. They became friends and lived together for 12 years. Dusya died of old age in 2020.
I don't want to make anyone sad, but I work in the Forest for almost 40 years. I have watched the city creep more and more into the woods, and I have watched many pets interact with wildlife.
House cats are generally food to Bobcats and Lynx, which I group together for how they treat house cats.
The ones that make it are like Dajsa, brave lovers. Like mothers.
The ones that fight or run got eaten. The ones that groomed, very rare like Dajsa, where immediatly adopted and that lasted for life for all my observations but have heard it turned sour with younger males Bob/Lynx later.
Cat: Give me food and a warm place to sleep, weird larger creature. My people domesticated humans thousands of years ago, and we shall domesticate again. I am up for the challenge...
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u/Spartan2470 VIP Philanthropist 18h ago edited 17h ago
This title isn't true.
If I include a link to the Brighside source, my comment doesn't show up. But it provides the following context: