page_title: Interspecies friendship
section_title: Friendships between non-human animals
hierarchical_section_title: Interspecies friendship / Friendships between non-human animals
caption_attribution_description: English: A cat and dog displaying companionship
context_page_description: An interspecies friendship is a non-sexual bond that is formed between animals of different species. Numerous cases of interspecies friendships among wild and domesticated animals have been reported and documented with photography and video. Domestication of animals has led to interspecies friendships between species that would never naturally exist together. In many cases of interspecies friendship, the pair of animals include those not known to get along, and sometimes, one is of a species that ordinarily preys upon the other in nature.
  The concept of interspecies friendship is similar to that of mutualism in that two individuals from different species exist in a relationship where each organism benefits from the activity of the other. This method can be seen in chicken friending strategies. Reasons for the formation of interspecies friendships include domestication, interspecies communication, mutually beneficial exchanges, desire for social bonding, protection, or is often unknown.
caption: A cat and dog bonding
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