A Russian prosecutor is investigating whether media coverage of the unlikely friendship between a male goat and a male tiger could spark interest among children in “non-traditional sexual relations.”
Timur the goat and Amur the tiger met in November in a wildlife park near Vladivostok after the goat was placed in the tiger’s compound as a snack, according to the Associated Press. The tiger never devoured him and instead took a liking to his new companion, prompting their rare “romance” to go viral.
But Novosibirsk lawyer Alexei Krestyanov claims the animals’ domestic harmony could harm children by provoking “interest in non-traditional sexual relations,” The Guardian reports.
“I think the positive coverage of this topic is nothing less than interference in the personal lives of minors, which is what hidden propaganda is, and public, active imposition of homosexuality,” Krestyanov wrote on Facebook.
The prosecutor’s office is now looking into the case, according to The Guardian. Sadly, Timur and Amur are undergoing a trial separation after they attacked one another.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- How Donald Trump Won
- The Best Inventions of 2024
- Why Sleep Is the Key to Living Longer
- How to Break 8 Toxic Communication Habits
- Nicola Coughlan Bet on Herself—And Won
- What It’s Like to Have Long COVID As a Kid
- 22 Essential Works of Indigenous Cinema
- Meet TIME's Newest Class of Next Generation Leaders
Contact us at letters@time.com