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The clip shows a coyote appearing to wait for a badger before the pair cross under a highway together.
It was recorded in November 2019 before being widely shared on social media on Tuesday.
This is the best thing you'll see all day! 🐾 Our wildlife cameras spotted a #coyote and #badger together — the fir… https://t.co/Q7yc3jboNW— Open Space Trust (@Open Space Trust) 1580839201.0
“For folks like us who study these things on the ground, it's about the best kind of footage we could ever dream of," Neal Sharma, wildlife linkages program manager at the Peninsula Open Space Trust told the PA news agency.
“It absolutely blew us away."
The footage was recorded at the Santa Cruz Mountains in California, as part of a study examining areas of safe passage for wildlife.
The clip received millions of views on social media, with some suggesting it had the hallmarks of a Disney film.
Sharma said that he had heard of other accounts of coyotes and badgers hunting together, saying that while they hunt differently, it is often in pursuit of the same prey.
“Actually seeing these two species use a human made crossing structure for safe passage under a busy highway is the first (footage) of its kind that we are aware of," Sharma continued.
“What we don't see in the clip is that just before that, these two actually came through the culvert together, spent some time on the side, and actually went back together."
The internet was loving it.
@PeccaryNotPig https://t.co/QfjvQwt70i— Mark Pritchard 🏳️🌈 (@Mark Pritchard 🏳️🌈) 1580792296.0
@PeccaryNotPig @MarkMauer Best buddy cop movie ever. https://t.co/MHC5xDPaWd— Mike Reynolds (@Mike Reynolds) 1580786477.0
@PeccaryNotPig Me (coyote) and my dumpy friend @Anthony16Bit (badger) going out for food at 2am after eating a whole pizza at midnight.— MattlRhoades™ (@MattlRhoades™) 1580851916.0
@PeccaryNotPig The smile I get when I watch the coyotes#’s reaction to his badger buddy showing up. That little jump. 🥰— Pete LaValle (@Pete LaValle) 1580825133.0
@tirtooga @PeccaryNotPig Narrated by Morgan Freeman and Snoop Dog— MangledUnicorn74 💜💛💜💛💜💛💜 (@MangledUnicorn74 💜💛💜💛💜💛💜) 1580808033.0
@PeccaryNotPig Wile E. is bringing in backup https://t.co/6VJDCkbJcu— Tom🇺🇸 (@Tom🇺🇸) 1580842305.0
"Seeing the attention too is really exciting. People connect with these wild animals and that means that there's a lot of interest out there," Sharma said.
“I think that is really at the heart of what we're trying to do. It's a better way of coexisting, especially in our area that's very biodiverse."
For more information on the study, visit openspacetrust.org or head to www.facebook.com/pathwaysforwildlife to find out more from POST's partner, Pathways for Wildlife.