With their royal look and powerful roar, lions are known as the kings of the jungle. A confrontation with one of these amazing creatures would have any brave explorer running for their life.
Despite their intimidating reputation, however, not all lions are as scary as they look. In fact, this particular lion is a downright teddy bear.
Filya lives at the at the Taigan Safari Park in Russia.
The park is owned by famous lion whisperer Oleg Zubkob, who encourages patrons to interact with the animals living at the facility.
However, int this clip, a few visitors get closer to the wildlife than they ever could have anticipated.
In the video, you see a group of visitors riding in an open-sided vehicle driven by Zubkob.
They are on a tour of the park when they spot a full-grown lion lazing on the side of the path. As they approach, the animal takes interest and walks up to the left-hand side of the vehicle. At this point, most of the patrons’ hearts have dropped into their stomachs— but what follows is almost too incredible to believe.
The lion hops onto his trainer, embracing him in a giant, lion hug
Although the interaction with Filya could easily have turned into something much more tragic, it’s clear that this “king of the jungle” is actually just a sweet teddy bear. Filya has no interest in attacking the visitors or his trainers. In fact, he just wants some cuddles and hugs.
The video shows the giant lion hopping into the vehicle and sitting in the front seat.
He remains there for a few moments, cuddling with the lucky passengers.
After a few good cuddles and hugs, Filya hops out of the vehicle, and the visitors carry on their merry way.
Interestingly, Filya’s not the only lion at the park who loves to show affection.
In an interview with the UK Mirror, park director Tatiana Aleksagina said: “If a giant lioness jumps into your arms while you drive around Safari park, and purrs like a cat, then you can be sure that this is Lola from Chelyabinsk.”
“Life in the park has transformed her into one of the kindest animals we’ve ever seen.”
“In fact, she’s so passionate in jumping into the safari bus with kisses and hugs that many tourists can’t handle it.”
It’s crazy to see such dangerous, exotic creatures interacting with humans in such a gentle way, but even though lions aren’t the most dangerous African animal, you still probably wouldn’t want to see one up close. Statistically, hippos kill more people than lions—but lions are still responsible for 250 deaths a year.
Lions’ speed and teeth make them natural predators, but despite the dangers, Obkub says his visitors are safe with him.
In fact, the trainer recently garnered headlines for breaking up a lion fight using nothing but a slipper. According to UK Metro, a group of lions was harassing a young lioness. When Obkub stumbled onto the scene, he walked straight up to the growling animals and threw a slipper at the ringleader. Apparently, that was all it took for them to realize who’s boss.
Since being shared last month, the video has been viewed thousands of times.
“He’s familiar with people. He hugged the driver immediately. He then went on to nuzzle and lick passengers. He’s happy and well cared for. Respect him always and you’ll be fine.”
“Oh my God, those people are so lucky! Not only did the lion not hurt anybody, but they got to cuddle with it! I want to cuddle a lion!”
“I would have thrown away my phone and hugged the animal back, kissed and said thank you for this amazing moment.”
Watch the incredible encounter below!
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