An incredible story of friendship between a cow and a leopard, for which there is no explanation

Photos of a cow lying next to a leopard that appeared on the web many years ago have gone viral. These are not staged pictures, but a real friendship of animals that cannot even theoretically be together. The photos were taken in India and behind them lies an amazing story of 20 years ago.

Pictures of a cow and a leopard have been wandering the web for 19 years. Sometimes they are accompanied by stories designed to attract the attention of users. Most often they are stupid and have nothing to do with the pictures. The real story took place in the village of Antoli, in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was described in the Times of India back in 2002.

In October 2002, the peaceful life of the residents of Antoli was regularly disrupted by the constant nocturnal visits of a young leopard. At the same time, the predator behaved, to put it mildly, strangely. Instead of attacking pets, he was looking for the company of just one cow. The meeting of two animals, unexpectedly warm, was described by journalists:

After the villagers realized that the meetings were taking place regularly, the animals began to be monitored. Every night on the roofs of the huts adjacent to the cattle pen, curious people were on duty. The performance started around 22.00, as scheduled.

Over time, the news of the strange night visits spread far beyond the state. There were too many visitors and the leopard began to appear less often. One of the local conservationists suggested that the leopard's behavior is influenced by humans. He believes that the leopard behaves this way because it lives in a densely populated area. "Sometimes the proximity of people has a strange effect on animals," he said in an interview with the Times of India.

Even if that's the case, why doesn't the leopard scare the cow? The instincts of a herbivore should not allow such a dangerous neighborhood. We will probably never get an answer to this question. No one knows how long the friendship lasted and how it ended. There are only photos left, when looking at which questions arise that have no answer.

We know another unusual story of friendship — a small owl and a huge shepherd dog.