Who would’ve thought Shazam, a black leopard who lost his best friend, black jaguar Diablo Guapo, would find a new friend in a white tigress named Nikita? They’re not only different species but different colors!
At The Wildcat Sanctuary, we spend a great deal of time assessing personalities of the cats we rescue. For some, they want nothing to do with other cats of their kind. And we accommodate that by assuring they have habitats in areas they feel comfortable in.
But, for others, friendship in captivity is an important way to make their days more enjoyable. Surprisingly, it’s not always friends of the same species that develop lifelong friendships.
FRIENDSHIPS MADE AT THE WILDCAT SANCTUARY
Take, for instance, the love story of Morgan, our bobcat, and Shalico, our lynx, featured in a video report by HuffPost Good News HERE. Or, the love match made between Max, our lynx, and Misha, our cougar. Everyone loves the touching video of their story HERE.
We introduced Ramsey, the lynx, and Buddy, the bobcat, who’ve been best buddies living happily together for years. And it turned out a big bobcat like Nikko was just what Rio, the serval, needed to calm his aggressiveness. Now, you’ll find those two cuddled up together in their habitat all the time. Who can forget the day tigers Titan and Lilly made it clear they wanted to be together forever? You can watch that tender, kind of scary, moment in this video HERE.
We’ve helped so many find friends they never would have expected. And now, it seems that’s happened for Nikita and Shazam. You can watch the moment Nikita and Shazam became next door neighbors in this video:
And it’s all because of those who support us, wanting to help give the best lives possible to these cats in captivity. These cats didn’t choose to be bred for lives in cages, so it’s up to us to make sure the lives they live are rich in every possible way – including forging friendships.
With your help, we’ll keep adding to this long list of miracle matches we’ve made over the years:

Athena, Tractor, and Libby



MORE FRIENDSHIPS NOT PICTURED:
Cougars Castle and Vista
Bobcats Claud and Benson
Servals Mufasa, Cleo, Rocky
Servals O’Malley and Denali
Bobcats Brianna and Stelter