Who doesn’t love an inter-species friendship? In this case, both are felines, but one is a stray calico cat and the other a mighty lynx. Still, they make for an unlikely pair.

Sometime before 2014, it was reported that a little calico cat wandered into the Leningrad Zoo in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was apparently looking for food when it entered the lynx enclosure.

Of course, it did find a suitable meal there – it’s just lucky it wasn’t made into one at the same time.

Lynx are cats that are related to tigers, lions, jaguars, AND domestic cats, which are all members of the Felidae family. They’re normally solitary creatures, but in this case, the zoo’s lynx was apparently happy to have a visitor (if that is, indeed, how their friendship started).

The European lynx (one of 4 members of the lynx species) – named Linda – didn’t seem to mind her companion and the two remain in the same enclosure, sharing food and toys.

The friendship they struck up – it appears that the cat, now named Dusya, sees Linda as its mother – warmed the hearts of animals lovers the world over when a video of them cleaning one another was posted in 2014.

But according to ABC News, the pair had already been friends for 7 years at that point!

While many of the original viral stories said that the cat was a stray that had snuck it, ABC claims the zookeepers brought in the kitten to keep the baby lynx company when both felines were just 6 weeks old in 2007.

In fact, they had limited time together at first just to see if zookeepers could make the relationship work but were soon allowed to live together 24/7. This seems like the much more likely scenario.

Even though their size difference was apparent from the beginning, the two loved playing together.

And while the photos make it look like the cat is at a disadvantage, they appeared to everyone around them to be quite happy.

Regardless of how they met, the duo quickly became inseparable and the zoo adopted the calico so the pair could live out their days together.

The two spend their time grooming each other, snuggling, napping in cardboard boxes, and playing with their toys – they get along like the perfect roommates. In fact, last we heard, their friendship was still going strong after 12 years (which is longer than the average life expectancy of a lynx).

Of course, just because a lynx and a domestic cat can get along doesn’t mean the wild feline would make as good of a housepet. While some people do keep them in their homes, the wild animals need to be specially cared for. Some consider it unethical to own the animals, but it is legal in most places (with the proper permit) and people even readily introduce them into houses with domestic cats as well as dogs!

As for Linda and Dusya, they appear to be going strong in their zoo enclosure. There’s no indication on any of the zoo’s websites or social media pages that either one has passed away despite their ages (animals do tend to live longer in captivity because of a lack of predators).

Be sure to scroll down below to see the two care for each other – it’s sure to melt your heart!

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Source: ABC News, KFOR News, USA Today, ignoramusky via YouTube