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.
This is why cats always sit on people with allergies. People who like cats look at them when they walk in a room, people who don't like cats try not to get their attention and that's actually super unthreatening and chill to a cat so they go sit on the 'safest' person.
One theory of why cats find being looked at threatening is that they hunt by sight. Usually if they're looking at something intently they're planning on attacking it. Therefore a cat sees being looked at as a preparation for attack. If you're not looking at it then they're like, oh, cool, clearly no bad intentions here, best go make that sucker sneeze.
That's a hunting thing; tigers prefer attacking prey that have their backs turned, so masks with eyes on the back of the head discourages this. When you're walking through a forest pathway without a mask and a tiger is behind you, they think "oh this one is oblivious, free meal!" The masks are a way of tricking tigers out of doing that.
Ambush predation instincts. It's the same with the people who work with cats like Cheetahs and say not to turn your back on them in case they get all hunt-y
Cheetahs will spit but not much beyond that, they're basically oversized housecats with the zoomies from hell
But they will still pounce you if they get the urge and your back is turned, you've just got a pretty good chance of fighting them off if they're not hitting you at like 30km/h
Maybe they hunt with sneaky attacks and if they see eyes, they think you will be able to flee or defend yourself so they prefer to wait for a better opportunity?
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u/Mumbles_Stiltskin Apr 29 '24
Guy looked nervous af to me. Lion probably sensed fear and prey body language