MOSCOW — How long can you bully a tiger? Quite a while, in the case of Timur the goat and his big cat pal Amur who live together in a safari park.
The unlikely bromance hit the headlines in November when Timur was sent into the predator's enclosure as one of the feline’s twice-weekly meals of live animals. The goat obviously did not know he was meant to be afraid of tigers and gave a horned rebuttal to attempts to eat him.
On Friday, Amur the Siberian tiger finally hit back. After weeks of gentle bullying and at least an hour of outright aggression, the feline grabbed the goat by the scruff of the neck, shook and then tossed it down a small hill in their enclosure.
Admittedly, Timur had spent an hour walking on the tiger, poking him with horns and trying to push him around, Primorsky Safari Park in Russia's far southeastern corner announced.
“Amur did not assault Timur. The tolerant Amur taught a lesson to the impudent Timur,” the park said in a statement.
The goat has now been removed from their shared enclosure.
A female may be behind the current spat. Amur’s sister Taiga, who lives adjacent to the duo, is in heat, which can seriously affect the behavior of males around her, according to park officials.
Until this week’s tussle, the pair had been living comfortably and even playing "soccer" together with an old ball.
And rather than becoming dinner, Timur has eaten so well that he's begun to suffer from obesity.
