Not Many Friendships Last For Over 20 Years,

but this one has,

the bond is between 59-year-old Ambo, a fisherman from Bontang City, in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan, with a giant saltwater crocodile he named Rizka,

“I first ran into Rizka when I was on a boat passing through the waters of the Pupuk Kaltim area 23 years ago,” Ambo told Kompas back in 2020. “She was then only about a meter long, so I ignored her as I made my way home. [But] I noticed that [Rizka] followed the vessel home. I even saw her next to the boat, which I also named Rizka. I called her over to give her something to eat, and she came around. She has since been doing that, if I don’t see her for two or three days, I go looking for her,” Ambo added. “I treat her as my own child.” 

“I usually give Rizka three chickens. Once she has been fed, she swims away,” Ambo said. “When I leave the village, I’ve to tell my neighbours to feed Rizka while I’m gone. I had to get neighbours to look after Rizka after my wife told me once that the croc came around when I was away.” When Ambo was away for about two years, working in the provincial capital Samarinda, he asked local fishermen to take care of Rizka for him, and they did, the villagers would throw the crocodile some of them catch when they saw her, since then, Rizka has become part of the community, and people see her as their guardian, he admits that he still fears scared sitting so close to a four-meter-long crocodile that could literally swallow him whole, he is willing to put his life on the line in the name of their friendship, “Sure the fear is there, but my ancestors believed that one can bond with crocodiles and other animals as if we have familial relations with them,” the fisherman said, you can follow Ambo and Riska on their Instagram page, what an amazing friendship!