Todos los bichos

Bonedigger, a five-year old male lion, and Milo, a seven-year old Dachshund, are so close that Milo helps the lion clean his teeth after dinner. The 500lbs lion dwarfs little Milo, yet after the dog took the disabled lion into his protection as a cub, Bonedigger has rarely left his side. Bonedigger was born with a metabolic bone disease that left him mildly crippled. The two have been inseparable over the past five years at G.W. Exotic Animal Park in Wynnewood, Oklahoma. When Milo and two other five-year old wiener dogs, Bullet and Angel, sensed that the cub was disabled they sought to comfort and protect him. Bonedigger and his pack of dogs cuddle, feast on raw meat and play in the grounds together.

Park manager John Reinke, 43,works at the zoo where he witnessed the bond develop between the unlikely duo. He said: ‘This friendship between an 11 pound wiener dog and a 500 pound lion is the only of it’s kind in the world ever seen.’

G.W. Exotic Animal Park has recently been affected by the deadly tornado that swept through Oklahoma on May 20th. The park was damaged and flooded, but is still managing to provide shelter for domestic and wild creatures that are homeless because of the storm.