Seeing wild animals up close can be an awesome experience.
However, it can also be a dangerous one.
When you come into contact with wild animals, it’s always best to maintain a certain level of distance.
But sometimes, the animal doesn’t want distance, they want to be as close as possible.
This was the case for one lion at the Taigan safari park in Crimea.
Now, since the lion lives his life inside of a safari park, we can assume that it has become accustomed to seeing people and visitors.
Had this lion been out in, say, the Serengeti, it probably would have acted a little differently.
That being said, it’s still a wild animal, and the way that this lion acted around these tourists was nothing short of incredible.
When the cart full of tourists drives up to a lounging lion, the lion gets right up to greet them.
And he doesn’t just walk over and give them a sniff or scan them with his eyes.
This lion decides that he wants to get up close and personal with the people in the cart.
He starts by going up to the driver.
The lion seems to recognize this man and makes sure to give him a very special welcome.
The lion jumps up into the man’s lap and pushes his way onto the front seat of the cart, rubbing his head on the driver as he does so.
The driver, who doesn’t seem too shocked or afraid by this gesture, allows the lion to get up onto the seat before he is able to climb out of the cart and coax the lion back onto the ground.
But the lion isn’t done interacting with his human guests.
The moment that the lion’s paws hit the ground, he turns around and tries to jump back into the cart, but on the row behind the driver this time.
The visitors sit in their seats with their phones out, recording this incredible experience.
The lion walks over the people and the seats, rubbing his big head on their smaller ones, trying to get all the scratches that he can while he’s got the chance.
The visitors all seem very calm and excited to have this lion on their laps.
I’m not sure how comfortable I would be in this situation, but I supposed that there really isn’t anything else you could do but sit and stay calm.
Your best bet is to probably just let the lion do his thing and give him a few scratches behind the ear for good measure.
Everyone gets out of the cart so that the lion will be able to hop off as well.
Once everyone is out and the lion is back on the ground, the visitors get back into the cart and they drive away.
This awesome experience had got to be a once in a lifetime event for most of the people on the cart.
How cool would it be to get to pet a huge lion and have it jump onto your lap as if it were nothing more than a cuddly little house cat?!
Remember though, these aren’t just your ordinary house cats and if provoked, lions have the ability to do some serious damage to you.
So if you ever find yourself on a safari trip, make sure to keep calm and enjoy these magnificent creatures from a distance.
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