It is fascinating to watch wild animals in action, going about their day, hunting, eating and even doing things that we human beings thought they couldn’t possibly do. But, there is no denying that these animals can be dangerous. However, nature also has its own laws and unless you don’t harm an animal or provoke it, they will not try to harm you in any way.
Clearly, some people did not get the memo and thought it was fun to provoke a lion for shits and giggles. The result could have been a little girl almost mauled by said lion.
The incident occurred in Jeddah where, in a bizarre activity, organised as part of the Jeddah Spring Festival, children were allowed to run around and play with a six-month-old lion cub.
In a Snapchat recording of the incident, which has since gone viral, children can be seen playing and screaming in delight as they play with the cub, while loud music blares in the background. They can also be seen chasing the poor animal around the cage.
The result? The cub is a child itself and it perhaps got too excited/provoked and attacked a little girl among the large number of children that surrounded it. The cub pins her to the corner and the child loses her balance after which the cub overpowers her, while she tries to shove it away.
In the entire video, there is not even one adult except for the trainer, who ultimately frees the child after quite a bit of struggle. As reported by NDTV, the trainer said that the cub got attracted to the girl’s butterfly clip. He also assured that the cub had been declawed and had been “trained to be around humans.”
You can watch the hair-raising video here:
When will humans understand that forcing an animal to do their bidding is in no way humane or appropriate. Things could have turned out much worse and the little cub could have been put down to rescue the girl. We hope the cub and the child are hale and hearty.