Credit: Greg Wohlford/Erie Times-News/AP Photo

Do opposites attract?  Apparently so -  in the  animal kingdom - where  unlikely animal pairs have been known to spark special friendships.

Take Samantha, an elderly western lowland gorilla at the Erie Zoo in Pennsylvania, who has found a new buddy in a Dutch rabbit named Panda.

At the ripe age of 47, Samantha was too old to be paired with another gorilla, but zookeepers were eager for her to have companionship, the Erie Times-News reported. She had been living alone in her enclosure for seven years after Rudy, a male gorilla at the zoo, died in 2005.

In February, zookeepers matched her up with Panda, gradually introducing the tiny black and white rabbit to the large but gentle gorilla. Though they make an odd couple, zoo officials told the Erie Times News that they really hit it off. Samantha reportedly scratches Panda under his chin and shares her food with him. An unlikely match made in animal heaven.

WATCH: More Unlikely Animal Pairs