In the heart of the bustling zoo, a captivating relationship began between two unlikely companions – Mufasa, the lion, and Freddy, the monkey. For years, their playful antics brought joy to visitors and zookeeper James, who was responsible for caring for both animals.
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But what began as an innocent friendship turned into a dramatic bond that stunned visitors, James was confused, and his boss demanded the two animals’ forced separation. Read on to learn about the unlikeliest friendships within the animal kingdom.
Zoo Keeper
James was a veteran zookeeper who overlooked hundreds of animals, and he developed a bond with each one. From the snakes to the sea lions, they all knew James and vice versa. And while the zookeeper wasn’t meant to have favorites, Mufasa, a lion, and Little Freddy, a monkey, did manage to secure that title.
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Both the monkey and lion enclosures were right next to each other, and James spent hours just staring at Mufasa and Freddy interact. And since both of them had grown up in captivity, the animals didn’t have the traditional prey and predator relationship.
Friends
In fact, the two had become friends. Freddy even routinely shared his bananas with his lion friend, but of course, Mufasa never ate them but still got excited every time Freddy did it. James watched as the lion and the monkey played games together and even tried to communicate.
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And while both had animals from their own species in their enclosure, Mufasa and Freddy only seemed to be interested in each other. And soon, news spread of their playful relationship, and more tourists flocked to see the monkey and lion best friends.
Sharp Turn
But this close friendship was soon about to take a sharp turn, and it all started on a regular day. First, James started receiving several calls from visitors and other zookeepers. They all wanted him to come quickly to Mufasa and Freddy’s enclosure.
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Worried that one of them might have gotten hurt, James left everything and rushed over. He could see that a large crowd surrounded both the enclosures, and after squeezing through, the zookeeper saw what the commotion was all about.
Climbing
He noticed that Freddy had managed to climb over into the lion’s enclosure, and the two animals were tousling. While this might look alarming, James knew both the animals very well and reassured them that this happened occasionally.
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Freddy, in particular, was quite an escape artist and loved to sneak out whenever he could. And, of course, his first stop was always to visit his friend, Mufasa, the lion. James quickly entered the enclosure, and just noticing the zookeeper’s presence, the smart monkey immediately stopped playing and tried to sneak back into his own enclosure.
Stunned
The tourists were left stunned and gasping at Freddy’s intellect and at Mufasa’s patience with the monkey. The lion could have easily harmed and attached the other animal, but the lion was careful to be gentle.
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While not national, this little act turned out to be a great marketing trick, and soon, more people than ever visited the zoo. All of them wanted to see the monkey and lion’s best friends play fighting.
Hurt
James wasn’t comfortable letting Freddy out of his enclosure, but his boss encouraged it. He knew that people donated more whenever the two animals “fought.” And since no one was getting hurt, James’s boss insisted that he allow it to draw in more tourists and revenue.
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So, what started as a fluke soon became a scheduled program. Freddy would routinely sneak into Mufasa’s enclosure, and the two would tousle together. James sometimes even gave them props, such as balls, to keep the duo entertained and happy.
Growled
The crowd obviously loved all these antics, and months passed by with the animals performing the same routine without any incident. That is until one day, James noticed that Mufasa seemed agitated from the start.
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And as Freddy approached him, the lion immediately growled. This wasn’t unusual, but James knew both animals well and could understand that the lion was agitated. So he quickly stopped the routine and coaxed both animals away from each other.
Earful
The audience had no idea why James had stopped the friends from playing and left huffing and puffing. Many even went up to the zookeeper’s boss to complain about it. And unfortunately, rather than help protect James, his boss did the exact opposite.
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He called him into his office and gave him quite an earful. Mufasa and Freddy had become the star attraction, and James’s boss didn’t understand why the zookeeper had stopped them from playing together.
Risks
And when James explained that he had a gut feeling that something was off, his boss rolled his eyes and told the zookeeper to do as he was told. He warned James that he could risk his job if he tried to stop them again.
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While James nodded obediently, at the end of the day, the zoo keeper knew that his priority was the animals’ safety and not the zoo’s revenue. So, the next day, he decided to get arrive at work early.
Aggressive
The zookeeper wanted enough time with Mufasa and Freddy to understand how both animals felt. He also did a quick check-up and found them to be physically healthy. And as he interacted with them, one on one, he also didn’t notice any signs of emotional stress.
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But James was sure that Mufasa had become aggressive towards Freddy, so he started performing tests. First, he showed Freddy pictures of Mufasa to see his reaction, and while everything went smoothly when he was with the monkey, Mufasa had a completely different reaction.
No Mingling
The lion became agitated when he saw pictures of Freddy! The animal began growling and roaring in anger. And soon, even James had to retreat. It looked like Freddy had done something to upset the lion.
And despite his boss’s orders, James refused to let animals mingle again. He needed time to figure out what had happened, so he pretended that both animals were feeling poorly to placate the tourists and his boss.
Real Fight
But James couldn’t think of anything. He wondered if the animals had gotten into a real fight or maybe Mufasa was frustrated by the audience and taking it out on Freddy. The reasons were endless.
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While the zookeeper might not have been sure about many things, he knew one thing for certain. Something unusual happened between the lion and monkey for them to act like this.
Reasons
Since the animals had been socialized together from day one, it was very unlikely that this sort of reaction happened naturally. James spent the rest of his day brainstorming reasons why Mufasa had gotten aggressive but came up with nothing.
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The two had been together since they were babies and had been friends for five years, and not once had he seen this sort of behavior. James knew he needed to learn more about the duo and decided to come to work early the next day as well.
Unthinkable
The following day, as James walked towards the monkey and lion enclosure, the zoo keeper saw the unthinkable. Freddy wasn’t in his enclosure, but he wasn’t with Mufasa either. In fact, the lion was sitting huddled in a corner.
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James’s first reason was that Mufasa and Freddy had fought, and the lion had horribly hurt the monkey. But as he got closer, he noticed that Mufasa looked terrified rather than victorious.
Search
James quickly radioed his colleagues and explained the situation, and a search began for Freddie. But after hours and a complete zoo lockdown, the monkey is nowhere to be found. That is until James spots Freddy.
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The monkey casually walked around Mufasa’s enclosure and had a wide stick in one of its hands. James saw Freddy trying to teach the lion how to do tricks, but Mufasa refused! And rather than accept defeat, the monkey started hitting the lion with the stick!
Pets
James quickly stepped in, and the minute Freddy saw him, the monkey dropped the stick and ran into its enclosure. The zookeeper had thought of every possibility of why Freddy and Mustafa’s relationship broke down, but he never expected this.
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Thankfully, the whole scene was captured by cameras, and finally, James’ boss agreed with him. Clearly, Freddy wanted to control the lion, much like humans have domesticated dogs. But, of course, Mustafa was no puppy but a lion.
Therapy
Over the next couple of months, James focused on therapy methods to help mend the relationship between the lion. While his boss would deny it, James was sure that Freddy began lashing out and wanting to do “tricks” due to the large audience.
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And if the animals had just been left to their own devices, they wouldn’t have had to deal with this. But his boss is oblivious to his participation in this and urges James to “fix” the animals quickly so they can return to their performances.
Help
A huge part of James wanted not to help the animals heal their relationship, only because he knew that once he had succeeded, the unlikely friends would again be paraded in front of the public.
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But, at the same time, James wanted to bend this sweet and safe relationship. So, the zoo keeper focused on that and hoped his boss could find another way to bring in revenue and tourists.
Still Friends
And after months of spending time together, James had proudly managed to do just that. He taught the lion how to play with the stick and taught Freddy how to be less bossy and patient.
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Thankfully, the animals became friends again due to James’ hard work and now regularly play with sticks. Unfortunately, though funnily enough, Mufasa the lion always takes control of the sticks, probably as revenge for what Freddy did.