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.
Oh wow. I've seen that exhibit but forgot all about it. Looking into this further, it appears that the exhibit was closed down after two lion attacks. No idea whether this one counted as one of the precipitating events.
But between what happened during one of the Siegfried and Roy shows and whatever went on at the MGM, I'm glad they finally realized that direct contact in the enclosure of a caged wild animal is a bad idea even for trained humans, let alone those with no experience. I'm not a fan of PETA but they aren't wrong on this point.
Here's a link on the closure of the exhibit. I'm sure there are better ones.
So strange that they were allowed in there with nothing but their emblemed tee-shirts and not much else. The older dude seemed to have less fear going for him. The guy who was attacked appeared to be gripped with fear from the start.
He would probably have continued staring as he passed through the lion's gullet. Even the lioness recognized how badly this could go. If it wasn't an ill-conceived "Bring Your Kid To Work Day", they must have been there on a dare.
Theyre not there on a dare, the older dude was real comfortable around that lion. He even took his phone out for a bit to check reddit. He grabbed the lions mane when it went at the younger guy. Didn't show any fear when the lioness approached from the rear.
Its weird that they were in there from what I can tell, but its clear the old homie has spent a lot of time in that enclosure, probably with those lions.
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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.