March 20, 2017
ABC News, May 13, 2015. Read the original story on ABC News.
Suryia the orangutan loves playing parent to these four baby tiger cubs. The unusual friends live at Myrtle Beach Safari preserve in South Carolina and apparently love spending time with each other.
“Suryia showed genuine interest in the cubs when the humans were feeding and caring for them,” Robert Johnson, a senior trainer at the preserve, wrote to ABC News. “As the saying goes, ‘monkey see, monkey do.’ Suryia started mimicking the human care giving behaviors and became very connected to the mothering process, which is particularly interesting for a male orangutan.”
The tiger cubs in this video are all 1 to 2 months old. They enjoy getting bottle-fed by the large orangutan, as well as cuddling up with him and climbing all over him.
Suryia was born at Myrtle Beach Safari preserve and is one of four orangutans who live there. “He lives with his brothers and sisters and 10 other apes as well,” said Dr. Bhagavan Antle, the director of RareSpeciesFund.org.