In a privately-owned exotic animal park in Oklahoma, a disabled lion and a weiner dog dachshund have become the best of friends.
Bonedigger, the mighty 500lb Barbary lion and Abby, the precocious dachshund, met when they were both between six to nine weeks old. It was love at first sight for the two of them.
Their bond has grown so much that the only ones Bonedigger allows in his cage are zookeeper John Reinke and Abby and the other dachshunds.
“Nobody can come in the cage. He runs them out, gets aggressive with them,” John said. “He’s never tried that with me. I’m never in fear while I’m in there and the weiner dogs have never been in fear while in there. [In fact], the weiner dogs have actually overpowered him.”
Bonedigger loves to be with Abby and the other dachshunds in the park.
They’ll run after each other, play around, and lick each other’s faces. The dachshunds spend so much time inside Bonedigger’s cage that when the zookeepers need to remove the dogs for a time, it upsets the big lion.
“When I go in to weed the cage, the dogs attack the head of the weed eater,” John stated. “I have to kick the dogs out of the cafe. Bonedigger just paces and cries up and down the fence. As soon as I’m done, I let the [dogs back in] and Bonedigger counts them to make sure they’re all there and just loves all over them.
All this because the dogs were gone for five to ten minutes from the cage. John Reinke said he’s never seen anything like this before.
“I can’t say that I’ve ever seen anything like this bond. They’re always just loving on each other,” John shared.
Bonedigger gets along with all four dachshunds in the park but it is Abby who has stolen his heart. Abby is the one who gets away with a lot more.
“The most amazing thing is the bond that they’ve built,” John added.
They have grown to protect each other from danger and Bonedigger always makes sure his dog friends are alright.
Bonedigger was also born with a metabolic bone disease, which means his bones were brittle and he had more deformities than most cats. It was also one of the likely reasons he developed a great relationship with the dogs. They sensed his situation and wanted to comfort him.
Bonedigger was raised from the start by John, along with a tiger named Tony.
“They used to live with me in the house. I raised them both with bottled formula and raw meat until they grew too big for the house,” John recalled. “Bonedigger’s like a dog and when he hasn’t seen me for ages he gets all excited and runs up to me.”
Their first meeting was quite unexpected though. Joe Exotic, one of the long-time zookeepers who’s been around since they opened, knew they could become best of friends. So he brought in Abby inside the cage while another zookeeper held Bonedigger back. And someone got scared!
Can you guess who?
If you guessed Bonedigger, then you’re right! Bonedigger stepped back and roared a little squeak because he was scared of the little weiner dog. Eventually, Abby was able to win Bonedigger’s heart and they have been inseparable since that first day.
The Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, or The G.W. Exotic Animal Park is one of the places in the US that houses rescued exotic animals. Founded in 1997, the park spans 16 acres and is home to 1400 animals from 128 different species.
Watch the video below to learn more about Bonedigger and his best friend, Abby.
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