Splash NewsViral videos of dogs and cats playing? Please. This isn't YouTube kindergarten—you're playing in the big leagues now. Dogs and monkeys? Dogs and bears? Closer. But the trendiest interspecies friendship these days are between dogs and elephants!
Take, for example, Bubbles, an elephant, and Bella, the Labrador. The pals lives at Myrtle Beach Safari in South Carolina. Bubbles is a 32-year-old, four-ton African elephant who was adopted in 1983 after her family was killed by ivory poachers.
Bubbles met the Lab in 2007, when, according to the video, "a contractor hired to build Bubbles a swimming pool abandoned Bella as a puppy at The Preserve."
It continues, "The pool and eventually the river presented these two the opportunity to interact in a way that developed a deep and lasting friendship. [Their friendship] developed because of their shared love of the water...Today they are almost inseparable."
A fact that is adorably evident when you watch this video of the duo playing, with Bella climbing up on Bubbles' back and leaping into the water to fetch a ball. Go on, watch it nine billion times or until your heart explodes from cuteness:
Bubbles and Bella aren't alone in their interspecies camaraderie though. Just the other day, a funny YouTube video surfaced of an elephant trying to become BFFs with a pup. Unfortunately, the elephant picked the sleepiest dog in the entire world.
"3 vs 1 trying to wake up a dog: an elephant, a human and a rooster. It wasn't very successful as you can see," the video description explains. "Still this baby elephant was very curious and determined to play with this doggy."
And one of the most famous elephant and dog friendships was between another dog named Bella and her elephant bestie Tara, who ate and slept and played together all the time:
Once, when Bella got injured and had to spend three weeks recuperating indoors, Tara waited patiently outside the sanctuary office, until the two were joyfully reunited. (Sadly, Bella passed away in 2011 and Tara mourned the loss of her friend. Watch the incredible story here, but be warned, you will cry.)
Plus, here is a new video of a tiger, Ozzy, playing with two puppies:
Because it's cute and maybe tigers and puppies will be the new elephants and dogs.