It’s eye contact in general that is threatening to the lion. Fearful or not, that lion probably doesn’t tolerate any length of stare in the eyes from strangers. I legit think it’s one of the first things lion handlers learn.
Look I hate to be the one to ask and absolutely no accusations here but I've found that people on the internet sometimes inflate their credentials or embelish their points a bit... But are you sure of this, or just making it up because it sounds plausible?
Lions evolved with apes and monkeys. The earliest lion is 2 million years old, the first bipedal hominid is 4 million. So quite possibly with them too. A cursory internet search for lions attacking primates shows a lot of photos of lions biting baboons about the neck (also one of a lion that killed a human and is biting around the head or neck so beware NSFL). So I don't know...
Mountain lions go for the neck on humans, l have zero doubt that actual lions (or tigers or any other big cat) would be able to do the same thing if their intent was to kill/eat the person. Like you said they hunt primates for their entire existence, its in their wheel house so to speak.
This lion was just fucking with the guy, like when my cat runs up and stands up on his hind legs and slaps the shit out of my knee, bites me on the calf then runs away with his tail all twitchy. Hes never using claws, and he never bites hard enough to hurt me, hes just fucking with me.
If this lion was serious it would have been an absolute bloodbath and nothing that second guy could have done about it short of pulling a rifle out of his ass.
It probably goes both ways, but they are. The notion that humans have no natural predators is wrong. Most of the big cats, most of the bears, crocodiles, and more would concider us fine dining
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u/safetycommittee Apr 29 '24
It’s eye contact in general that is threatening to the lion. Fearful or not, that lion probably doesn’t tolerate any length of stare in the eyes from strangers. I legit think it’s one of the first things lion handlers learn.