Losing a loved one is an excruciatingly difficult experience that humans and animals are all faced with at some point. Pumpkin and Harris are two Asian short-clawed otters who both had to go through this when they lost their partners, but thankfully, they have since found love again with one another.

The SEA LIFE Scarborough sanctuary in England released a statement saying that Eric and Apricot, Pumpkin and Harris’ respective partners, tragically both passed away. Officials at the sanctuary had fears that Pumpkin and Harris would be so devastated by this that they would not be able to recover themselves.

Harris had been living at the nearby cornish Seal Sanctuary. Thankfully, the officials decided to try placing Pumpkin and Harris together to see if they could help each other through their grief, and the otters hit it off immediately!

“To ensure the best chance of a new pairing getting off on the right foot, it’s best to introduce a new male into a female’s territory so that the male more easily submits to the female on first meeting,” the Scarborough sanctuary explained, according to People Magazine.

This ended up working out far better than officials could ever have imagined, as Pumpkin and Harris are now virtually inseparable! Harris has since moved to SEA Life so that he can live with Pumpkin full-time.

“We are absolutely delighted that Pumpkin and Harris are getting on so well and he has settled in so quickly,” said Tamara Cooper, a curator at  Cornish Seal Sanctuary. “He is very much missed here at the Sanctuary but after everything Pumpkin and Harris have been through with losing their partners, it is the perfect fairytale ending for them to have found love again.”

“After an extremely sad period for both Pumpkin and the Animal Care team here at Scarborough, we are delighted to report that not only is Pumpkin happy once again, but Harris has settled in extremely well and has already become part of the SEA LIFE Scarborough family,” added SEA LIFE Scarborough display curator Todd German. “We can’t wait for our guests to meet the happy couple when we reopen our doors on Wednesday 2nd December.”

We would like to wish Pumpkin and Harris many years of happiness to come!