Camera Catches Zoo Lion Lunging at Toddler and Face-Planting on Glass Wall

KFOR ^ | JUNE 3, 2016 | HEATHER HOLEMAN

[nickcarraway]

If you own a cat, you know that they crouch down and pounce while playing.

The same thing was caught on tape, but with a much larger cat - a 400 pound lion at a zoo in Chiba, Japan.

A two-year-old boy got a very close encounter when the lion lunged, after the boy turned his back.

The good news is that a glass wall was separating the two when the lion pounced, smashing his face into the wall.

The glass wall is only about a month old, allowing lions to see their human visitors more closely than ever before.

Zookeepers say the lion acts similarly each time he sees a small child, and simply wants to play with them.

Do you think the lion was just playing?

Either way, it's a good thing that glass wall is thick!

Meanwhile, at a Belgium zoo, the birth of a baby panda, which looks more like a hairless rat, is being called a miracle.

Just three months after announcing that mother panda Hao Hao was inseminated, she was seen carrying her tiny newborn cub in her mouth.

Officials at Pairi Daiza Zoo say less than 2,000 pandas remain in the wild, and that panda births in captivity are very rare.

Finally, an orphaned baby gorilla at the Louisville Kentucky Zoo is searching for a new mom.

3-month-old Kindi weighs just six-and-a-half pounds.

Her mother died during her birth, so zookeepers wear a furry gorilla vest while feeding and playing with Kindi, .

"She's reaching a lot of milestones. She has two teeth now, and we wear a furry vest all the time, and we're trying to have her learn what it's like to be a gorilla," said Zoo Assistant Mammal Curator Jill Kakta.

The zoo staff stays with Kindi 24 hours a day, hoping that one of their female gorillas can soon become her surrogate mom.

[exDemMom]

I went to a wolf exhibit near Yellowstone, and caught them at feeding time. Someone asked why they don’t put live prey in for the wolves to catch. The keepers explained that the live prey—they would use rabbits—actually scream and make a lot of noise. They said that the wolves do sometimes catch the birds that are always landing in the exhibit.

It seems rather cruel to have a predator and not actively engage its predatory instincts.

Perhaps a solution for the zoo in Japan would be to coat the window so the lions cannot see out, but visitors can still look inside.

[KarlInOhio]

The lion wasn't playing, it was preying.

Perception of English /r/ and /l/ by Japanese speakers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Japanese has one liquid consonant, a flap that varies between lateral [ɺ] and central [ɾ]. English has two: an alveolar lateral approximant /l/ and rhotic consonant of varying phonetic properties centered on [ɹ]. Japanese speakers who learn English as a second language later than childhood often have difficulty in hearing and producing /l/ and /r/ accurately.

In other words "LOAL"

[ETL]

Then there's this from last week...

‘Drunk’ zoo visitor leaps into lion enclosure to ‘shake hands’ with big cats

May 24, 2016
Nadia Judith Enchassi and Tribune Media Wire

HYDERABAD, India – An allegedly inebriated visitor found himself face to face with a female lion at a zoo in Hyderabad, India and somehow emerged with barely a scratch.

Identified as Mukesh, a 35-year-old rail worker from Rajasthan, the man later admitted to police he had been drinking before scaling the big cats’ enclosure inside the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad Sunday evening, according to The Hindu.

Shocking video shows Mukesh ignoring the cries of others as he drops into the moat and wades toward the cats as a lioness named Radhika runs to the edge of the water.

“Please, come to me, my darling” he said, according to witnesses.

A male lion, Krishna, joined Radhika as the two eyed the intruder, who, hand outstretched, came within feet of the lions. ...”

http://kfor.com/2016/05/24/drunk-zoo-visitor-leaps-into-lion-enclosure-to-shake-hands-with-big-cats/

[TomGuy]

There is a TV commercial [for Expedia] of a similar scene:

Kid in tiger costume is with Dad at airport, going to some zoo.

The original commercial showed the kid at a glass wall and the real tiger encroaching and thusting toward the kid. The Dad is seen grabbing the kid somewhat and pulling her away from the glass.

After a while, the commercial was re-edited and the short segment of the tiger thrusting and Dad grabbing the kid was removed.

==

Frequently, original commercials get edited after a while. I suppose it is after the company receives complaints or focus-group results.

[Stentor]

Everyone knows that Hakuna Matata means chipped toddler on toast.

[Daffynition]

[Brookhaven]

All cats are simply waiting for you to die so they can eat you.

[Jmouse007]

That was funny (I am sure the lab mice didn’t think so). Thanks for the laugh, I needed it.

[Jmouse007]

“Oh goodie, ‘dinner is served’ ...darn this invisible barrier I want to EAT him... sigh”.

[muggs]

I think it was the Desert Museum in Tuscon, they had a warning sign about small children and if you notice any predator behavior to move the child from near the glass.

[RegulatorCountry]

I did an internship at a science center with a zoo while in college. Even though I was in marketing, I was expected to handle other duties. I do know that feeding time for species requiring live prey was done after hours, to avoid upsetting the public. I never had to put live mice in the boa habitat but witnessed it a few times. I didn’t like it, asked if the mice could be sedated or something. Nature can be cruel.

[Daffynition]

Appetizer. Entree.

Little girls are so sweet, I'll not need dessert, thank you. ;)

[Daffynition]

And all cats R cats

[Vigilanteman]

Hey, a lot more sporting than being tossed alive into a crematorium, wasn’t it?

[Pelham]

How do you say ‘hold muh beer an’ watch this’ in Hindi?

[Pelham]

..explaining why they like having a fat owner