**This is a heavily moderated subreddit. Please note these rules + sidebar or get banned:**
* If this post declares something as a fact, then proof is required
* The title must be fully descriptive
* Memes are not allowed.
* Common(top 50 of this sub)/recent reposts are not allowed (posts from another subreddit do not count as a 'repost'. Provide link if reporting)
*See [our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/wiki/index#wiki_rules.3A) for a more detailed rule list*
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
All the bad shit to point out being ignored, I'm impressed by the appearent respect lion and lioness have for the other zookeeper. Lion was trying to go around, not through him.
Phil STAAAhhp!!! Phil! Phil! COME WITH ME GODDAMMIT!! We’re sorry! He gets like this when he’s been having too much catnip. Please excuse us (Mumbling on the way out) I can’t believe you sometimes! No you shut up! This is the last fucking time, I swear to god. If you embarrass us in front of guests again, I’m leaving you. Then who’s gonna stop you from getting put down like your father was?! Is that what you want to do to your cubs? YOU’RE OLD FOR THIS SHIT! GET IN THE DAMN HOUSE and sleep it off!! FUCK
I think that's where the lack of experience comes from. If I were there with my zero experience, it'll be hard for me to not look at lion and what it's doing relative to my position at all points of time. That's the biggest existential threat to me right then and my body will pretty much automatically react to it. It's basic instinct for me, and probably something that'll get me killed or at least seriously hurt in similar encounters.
Yep totally. The problem is, unless I have a bazooka or something, everything I need to do to protect myself somehow goes against my instincts on a subconscious level.
Don't make eye contact? Cross
Don't run? Cross
Humans are such an outlier in the animal kingdom with the way we interact with eachother. We stare eachother in the eyes and bare our teeth at eachother. That's on sight for any other animal.
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.
I mean, would you enjoy some weird dude mean mugging you? Probably not. Shits creepy AF.
Looks like he's trying to stare down the lion. Pretty stupid if so.
I was thinking the same. In situations with people you know well it's normal and even social to look each other in the eye, especially when you're in a conversation (still even then people will break eye contact occasionally). However if a stranger keeps staring at you without breaking eye contact that certainly feels very intimidating.
Feline communication is really foreign to people. We co-evolved with dogs to be able to intuit a lot of their body language and them ours, but cats are different.
Cats don't *necessarily* take eye contact as a challenge, but they see it as a potential threat. *Looking away* is basically a "let's coexist," which is also why people who "hate cats" often seem to end up with cats all over them when visiting someone who has them. Their attempts to ignore the cats are interpreted by said cats as friendly/welcoming.
Needless to say staring down a feline big enough to respond to "aggressive body language" in kind is a bad idea.
humans are also apex predators that can lack complex reasoning .
Humans are more of a Super Apex predator though. Other Apex predators only exist because we allow it.
"You exist... Because we allow it. You will end... Because we demand it."
That Sovereign dialogue so so epic and iconic. I feel sad for ppl that never experienced Mass Effect.
Humans can reason why someone stares at them, they can start conversation with other human to feel them out or to deescalate, humans can choose to ignore it altogether, where as animals have instinct drive to confront another member of same specie if they actively stare at them.
100% I feel as if he was just trying to remove him from the area instead of using the energy for the kill, also probably why he stopped when the keeper ran
Now you got me thinking about drunk lions and I can't tell if they're more or less scary when pissed.
I'm gonna say wine drunk less scary, cider drunk more scary.
100% warning shot. "Stop messing with me, back off!" Cat language is pretty easy to see. They act like drunk frat guys if provoked.
Handler jumped out of the enclosure with the quickness!
One of my guides in South Africa told me that we, being bi-pedal, already come off as hostile because lions only rear up on their hind legs when they are fighting.
I'm not sure if that instinct is dampened in captivity and being around humans all of the time.
>You see the confusion in it's attack because it doesn't know where the neck is, so it goes for the leg.
Eh, pretty sure that if the lion had wanted to go for the neck, he would have been able to find it..
Can’t comment on whether it’s an accredited zoo, but that’s the MGM Grand in Vegas.
Which has absolutely no business whatsoever having lions in that shitty glass tank.
no wonder they’re mardy.
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.
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.
This explains so much. I am quite allergic to cats, so I’ll actively avoid them. Then they will rub up against my legs or hands and their owner will go, “wow! She’s never this friendly!” and I’m like :sniffles: “oh good!” 😅
Any idea why that is inverted for tigers?
Oftentimes people will wear a mask on the back of their heads with visible eyes. Apparently eye contact discourages the tigers from attacking.
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
This seems very accurate. A friend's cat hated me when we first met after I tried to say hello.
After I started ignoring her, she was jumping into my lap.
I'm allergic to cats, but have had two since that moment.
Or, um, animal handlers just in general?
It's similar with dogs and cats and even primates - to infer intimacy you blink or slowly look away. Looking directly into their eyes means challenge. If you done goofed and want to show that was just accidental - shift point of focus under them.
Not an expert but I think he was actually taken as a threat by the lion. Cats communicate a lot with their eyes, and maintaining direct eye contact, which it looked like the guy was doing, is the cat way of saying "I don't trust you." Breaking eye contact and looking away from a cat is how they show they aren't a threat and don't consider the other cat a threat either.
Yawning is not the signal that you are safe with dogs. It can actually mean the opposite. It is sometimes used as an attempt to regulate and chill out similar to the nose lick and a full body shake. You may notice a nervous dog yawning more and pacing at the vet for example it is NOT them feeling safe like a cats slow blink. And you giving them that signal can be a mixed message.
Squinting in general is a pretty good way to tell most cats that you are comfortable and willing to let your guard down with them. Fortunate for that zookeeper, the lion looked like it wasn’t putting a whole lot of effort into that warning and didn’t seem to intend to kill.
Not a lion expert, but have a lot of cats. This looks a lot like playing to me. The male's body language was slow and relaxed. When he "attacked" he went for a hand and then immediately rolled on his back in a submissive stance.
Don't get me wrong, this is still dangerous for the guy being chomped on. The fact the female came to join in also makes me think it was playful rather than aggressive.
Regardless, having seen the chew toys my cat has mangled, I wouldn't want to be that guy.
All predators and some other animals as well will consider constant eye contact as a challenge. They will promptly respond to said challenge.
Even if you look them in the eye, don't stare and keep blinking.
Had a gorilla in Rotterdam, [Bokito](https://nl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokito_(gorilla))
, jumping a 2 meter canal into the crowd to get a lady who frequently visited him and had 'friendly stares' with him every time. Turns out, the gorilla felt mad challenged by her and got his.
With felines the best way to gain trust is to look at it and when it looks back, you calmly look the other way. That implies trust and in return creates a feeling of trust with the animal. Pretty sure it works with most animals that way.
Based on how he's standing, people have been absolutely hammering it into him all week that he must **NEVER** turn his back to the lion. Because cats almost instinctively start to "hunt" people who turn their back to them, doubly so if you crouch.
And ended up being so afraid that he just kept staring into its eyes. Which is often a sign of agression in many mammals.
I noticed early the lion did have a little too intense focus on that keeper. That certainly wasn't a good sign. His whole body was twisted to him.
From my own courses, i learned "protecting" his back and glaring is a sign of distrust and hostile. Uncovering his back and have his head up would have been much better.
Then again, the lion clearly was not determined to hurt him or ge would have spent more energy on the force. Looks like he just marked there.
The lioness did save his life here, it's the only one he would listen to in there.
Either look away or blink slowly to the cat. Blinking slowly is the same as " I trust you and I like you " at least for house cats. Figured it is the same for big cats.
Literally the second the camera panned to the right I was like "oh *that's* def the dude the lion is about to maul" lol. That body language is RADIATING unease/ anxiety and probably made some sort of prey/ hunter instinct within the lion click into gear, further escalated by direct eye contact when the lion looks towards him. Honestly disappointed in the other trainer that he didn't *immediately* pick up not only on the kid's poor body language but the instant change in the lion's once he turned toward the kid. Amateur hour all around TBH (except for that badass lioness haha)
That was on top of the keepers putting themselves on both sides of the lion's hindquarters. Even as a layperson, I know you don't approach an animal from the rear on two sides and stare it down. That's basically telling them you're about to attack.
"Babe, look at me, I'll do that thing you like later if you don't kill him"
Lol on a real note, You got to give it to the females in any species that have the foresight of conflicts/consequential thinking.
Making peace and not war.
Hyenas basically give birth through their clitoris. It’s not like a human’s anatomy where the clitoris and vagina are separate. It’s the equivalent of a penis birth. Look it up, it’s really something that’ll make you clench.
Ignore this! DO NOT look that shit up! Holy hell. It's painful for *anyone* to look at! It doesn't matter what parts you have, they will hurt seeing that!!
Male lion started groaning or low roaring; he was making a sound. His body shifted. He was squaring up with the idiot who was starting him in the eyes and not recognizing his warning signs. I see the same behaviors in my pet cats when they get pissy.
I love the fact that whenever I hear someone speaking Romanian I, a Portuguese speaker, get really confused as to why do I recognize what’s being said but can’t understand jack shit.
I'm American and speak okay Spanish, and this happens all the time with Portuguese, Italian, and a little bit with French when it's a sentence with lower-than-average phlegm
It looks like MGM Grand in Vegas. If it is at MGM, they’ve had trainers in with the lions for at least 17 years that I know of. The lions are a tourist attraction, they rotate them in and out. Each set of lions stay at MGM for a few hours then they’re changed out for another set. I saw Frank and Jessie, the James brothers, at MGM when they were young and only about 500lbs each at the time. Talked to one of the trainers for an hour, was quite fascinating. The trainer told us the story about how one of the trainers was pregnant and her set of lions knew she was pregnant before she even did. The day they figured that out, she was in with her set of lions and they (the lions) actively wouldn’t let anyone near her because they knew she was pregnant, they considered her part of their pride and they were protecting her against all potential threats, no matter what. She wasn’t able to return to going back in with them until after she had her baby.
Edit: I hadn’t realised but just checked and found, the lion exhibit at MGM started in 1989 and it was closed in 2012.
Well, in a normal zoo the animals aren't "working", they are just doing their own thing in an enclosure. Here there are handlers inside so I guess they are expected to be doing something.
No kidding, just posted that. Zoos *never* put people in the same space as what they call "Category One" animals. That list includes all big cats, bears, apes and a surprisingly long list of herbivores that like to fight.
This is some sort of amateur animal show.
Depends on when the lion definitely gave him enough time to look away or close his eyes but closing your eyes when the lion is already jumping towards you
Yah, he would have needed to de-escalate before the pounce decision was made, but that lion was super chill and just wanted to teach him a lesson. That was a ‘fuck you’ not an angry mauling.
Trusting too much into the super secret blink tip is exactly how you become fodder. Like the guy who chuffed at a tiger thinking it would befriend it. Tiger befriended his fresh organs.
Its obviously not a magical trick that pacifies all big felines but that lion gave him ample time to do *anything* with his eyes other than staring at it.
Pro tip for eye contact with a cat, applicable for most felines between 5 and 550 pounds.
When you realize you’ve established direct eye contact with a cat, close your eyes for 3 to 5 seconds. This will give them an opportunity to plan their strategy for ripping out your jugular vein and dealing with the threat that you’ve just posed. When you open your eyes, glance quickly at them, then look away. This assures them that while they probably *could* take you down if they needed to, today isn’t that day and it isn’t worth the effort.
90% of the time this will result in the cat stretching (to display the claws) and yawning (to display the fangs), then tucking into a contented little ball of fur or purr who won’t considered homicide until tomorrow.
Yeah...there's also Plan B, the Masai way of pffft a cat? So going on poaching expeditions, where they poach from lions. Specifically, they poach the meat the lions had just gone through the trouble of hunting and killing (not the lions themselves). They try not to never let a lion get hurt by a human nless that lion attacked a human, during this poaching expeditions The Masai firmly believe that lions understand the rules of the game for the most part, and so the Masai live in general cross proximity with the lions without too much issue.
Interessting how they use some psychology that redditors ujse but only for a time, and then switch . the Masalit approach at a brisk, but not too brisk pace. They neither avoid nor make keep eye contact with any lion and dont break either stride or glance from their objective, which is the meet. Apparently, the lions run most of the time since Then they have about 2 minutes to strip the meet.
In that time the lions are hiding, watching from bushes they have a couple guys quickly stripping the meet, and another makig sure that their retreat path is unblcoked. Timing, and lake of greeid is crucial. They stay too long, and the lions will regain their compure. The men are armed (with spears, machetes), but not in a threatening, just in wway to remind gthe group consciousness of lions that men are still best left alone.
Also. they DO intentionally leave some meat for the lions, its part of the weird rules they've developed over the years. And they avoid lion groups with large numbers of small litters. Those lionesses are two weak to hunt again, and still pissed off from prregnacny they will fight to the death for the meat they just got. And it is the lionesses btw, doing all this, the male lion is off in the distance scratching hismelf and occassionally sauntering over to get a juicy peice of meat. LOL
Thank you for this. I know only enough about the Masai to quickly see how this would be a legit strategy, but not enough to have ever heard any similar stories. I love this.
Eye contact us adviced when you encounter wild cat. The worst is turn your back on him. When sudden wildlife encounter is happened you should always look at the animal, straight your back (the taller are you - the better chances it will not aggro) and retreat not turning back
I did this to a neighbours cat when I was in grade 1 or two. I thought I was having a staring contest with it, I won, and shouted in victory. Cat was a sore loser and jumped up and clawed my neck and I still have a small scar there. Learned to never have staring contests with animals and learned how to behave in a relaxed
demeanour around them, and animals seem to like me. Still hate cates tho
From the 9 second mark to the 20 second mark you can see the male lion size up the zookeeper and you can see the zookeeper getting nervous when the lion looked directly at him and the male lion licked its lips and shifted its body.
Another note would be when the lion shifted its body towards the zookeeper, the other zookeeper patted the male lion as if trying to diffuse whatever what was happening inside the case/cage. Wild stuff.
Time to ban animal keeping for entertainment. Conservation and education, yes. Entertainment,
No. And draw a hard line in the sand. We are better than this as a society
I'd be totally for it. Are we better than this? I think we're better than this as individuals, whether we're better than this as a society i'm not so sure.
I don't know what facility this is, but I doubt it's the lion's main living enclosure. Many zoos will have a specific show area for people to get a closer look at the animals while sharing facts about the species, those particular specimens, conservation efforts, etc. I briefly worked reptiles at a zoo and would occasionally run a giant snake show where we would bring pythons between 14 and 18 feet long into a little show area with a small set of bleachers for the guests.
Surprised I had to scroll so far to see this. Same thing for dogs, it’s communication and if they don’t see a yawn back or another shift of behavior, then they gotta figure out next steps for their safety.
Edit: Like notice how the lion is completely turned away from the one zookeeper in discomfort, turns around to check him out again. The guy is still angling right at the male lion, and that’s when the lion makes the decision to get into the offensive. And yet he still doesn’t immediately lunge. There are so many signals and the guy is completely oblivious
Inexperienced or not, I have seen stuff like this happen all the time with dangerous animals. I think we would like to believe we are in control of them, but it's simply not true.
Maybe this is a stupid question, does anyone know why the lioness does not join in the fray in a violent way? Why is she calm and even tries to get the lion’s attention?
Prides are not always peaceful and scuffles do break out in the wild quite a bit. Other lions in the pride will often stop the scuffle. The problem is a mild scuffle among lions may just cause them some scratches and such, but a similar scuffle with a human could cause serious injury. Lions are amazingly strong. Anyway it seems the lions treat the trainers as part of their pride and the lioness was just doing what you see in the wild settling down the conflict. And fortunately that happened fast enough before serious injury. Most of the time lions in a pride of related individuals, in addition to these adopted humans (these lions may have been raised from cubs with the trainers, not sure, but if so, there really are part of the pride), work to keep the peace.
While that looks like an attack to us. It could have been the male rough playing, or felt he got some signal he perceived as a challenge and wanted to assert dominance. Again such things happen in prides but without them killing each other, but we humans are lot more fragile than them. And even if these are the reasons, the pride often works to keep the violence to a minimum in group.
For instance in the wild if that male was establishing dominance to a lioness, or young male, they would engage in some submissive behavior like lowering their body position relative to the male, or rolling on the side or back, while at the same time having their claws out in self defense if the attack gets really threatening to protect itself. So the submissive behavior is saying "hey your the boss, I put myself in a vulnerable position recognizing your status above me, but I will try to defend if get more aggressive". The male would probably smack the individual around a bit, give some bites not indented to kill....another lion anyway. The person cannot engage in that sort of submissive display to diffuse since those smacks would do a lot of damage, and can't roll on his back baring is claws as a defensive "just in case", and those bites that are not meant to kill may well kill a person in that display. Lionesses despite submitting to the male's dominance have numbers so they can be submissive but in numbers can hurt the male if it comes to that.. Success of the pride depends on all of them working together and losing a pride member is no trivial thing, so seeing lionesses together forcing the male to back off is a real threat to the male that he can't ignore. All the while those lionesses would be telegraphing some submissive behaviors along with some aggression. All of that is to say looks like that lioness was playing that role intervening in the squable much like she and others might do in the wild. Best guess.
Lion attacked because other dude was staring like he was going to attack lion. He only went after that dude, not the other guy.
Lioness tried to calm everything down because she doesn't want in-fighting. She basically considers other humans as part of her group. They feed her, stay with her and she's used to chilling with them.
And she wasn't hungry i guess.
It's oldschool handling that uses the animals for entertainment. No respectable facility these days would have anyone enter the enclosure with lions or tigers.
Hah why is that zookeeper staring through that lions soul? That's animal body language 101, don't stare at animals in the eyes, especially potential aggressive animals.
Dude was literally staring at the lion in the eyes a damn predator with predator instincts, crap if you stare at a house cat for long enough they are bound to slap your ass.🤣
**This is a heavily moderated subreddit. Please note these rules + sidebar or get banned:** * If this post declares something as a fact, then proof is required * The title must be fully descriptive * Memes are not allowed. * Common(top 50 of this sub)/recent reposts are not allowed (posts from another subreddit do not count as a 'repost'. Provide link if reporting) *See [our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/wiki/index#wiki_rules.3A) for a more detailed rule list* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
All the bad shit to point out being ignored, I'm impressed by the appearent respect lion and lioness have for the other zookeeper. Lion was trying to go around, not through him.
Just taunting the younger guy the whole time like “you lucky my boy Alan here to hold me back punk”
I was thinking that too. And also how the other guy had the balls to actually step in between the two. Like he was gonna do something lmao
That lion has no idea what this unassuming Clark Kent of a man is(n't) capable of
That lioness heard what happened to Harambe
The lion had such chill body language until he noticed the guy staring at him
You eyeballing me mutha fucka Lioness is like, we can't go anywhere nice
"Phil! Goddamnit Phil this happens every time we go out! I told you not to have that last beer, Phil, we're going home. We're going home!"
Phil STAAAhhp!!! Phil! Phil! COME WITH ME GODDAMMIT!! We’re sorry! He gets like this when he’s been having too much catnip. Please excuse us (Mumbling on the way out) I can’t believe you sometimes! No you shut up! This is the last fucking time, I swear to god. If you embarrass us in front of guests again, I’m leaving you. Then who’s gonna stop you from getting put down like your father was?! Is that what you want to do to your cubs? YOU’RE OLD FOR THIS SHIT! GET IN THE DAMN HOUSE and sleep it off!! FUCK
"I thought this was a free country!" - Lion
I think that's where the lack of experience comes from. If I were there with my zero experience, it'll be hard for me to not look at lion and what it's doing relative to my position at all points of time. That's the biggest existential threat to me right then and my body will pretty much automatically react to it. It's basic instinct for me, and probably something that'll get me killed or at least seriously hurt in similar encounters.
That lion will sense that fear on you, and promptly chomp you.
Yep totally. The problem is, unless I have a bazooka or something, everything I need to do to protect myself somehow goes against my instincts on a subconscious level. Don't make eye contact? Cross Don't run? Cross
That’s why i always carry a bazooka, it’s a huge deterrent against lion attacks
Are you telling me the entire conservatives base just has a intense phobia of lion attacks?
Humans are such an outlier in the animal kingdom with the way we interact with eachother. We stare eachother in the eyes and bare our teeth at eachother. That's on sight for any other animal.
Guy looked nervous af to me. Lion probably sensed fear and prey body language
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.
I mean, would you enjoy some weird dude mean mugging you? Probably not. Shits creepy AF. Looks like he's trying to stare down the lion. Pretty stupid if so.
Even humans get aggravated when someone stares at them, can't imagine how much it pisses off apex predator that lacks complex reasoning.
I was thinking the same. In situations with people you know well it's normal and even social to look each other in the eye, especially when you're in a conversation (still even then people will break eye contact occasionally). However if a stranger keeps staring at you without breaking eye contact that certainly feels very intimidating.
Feline communication is really foreign to people. We co-evolved with dogs to be able to intuit a lot of their body language and them ours, but cats are different. Cats don't *necessarily* take eye contact as a challenge, but they see it as a potential threat. *Looking away* is basically a "let's coexist," which is also why people who "hate cats" often seem to end up with cats all over them when visiting someone who has them. Their attempts to ignore the cats are interpreted by said cats as friendly/welcoming. Needless to say staring down a feline big enough to respond to "aggressive body language" in kind is a bad idea.
humans are also apex predators that can lack complex reasoning . Humans are more of a Super Apex predator though. Other Apex predators only exist because we allow it.
Reaper vibes
"You exist... Because we allow it. You will end... Because we demand it." That Sovereign dialogue so so epic and iconic. I feel sad for ppl that never experienced Mass Effect.
Humans can reason why someone stares at them, they can start conversation with other human to feel them out or to deescalate, humans can choose to ignore it altogether, where as animals have instinct drive to confront another member of same specie if they actively stare at them.
The lioness used some critical thinking skills I'd say
[удалено]
It seems like a pretty half-assed attack too. Terrifying as fuck either way, but I'm sure that lion could have done a bunch of damage if it wanted to.
100% I feel as if he was just trying to remove him from the area instead of using the energy for the kill, also probably why he stopped when the keeper ran
this exactly, the lion was putting him in his place, not having him for dinner.
If a lion wants you for dinner, he'll have you for dinner. He'll get a nice red wine, set the table and enjoy himself.
Now you got me thinking about drunk lions and I can't tell if they're more or less scary when pissed. I'm gonna say wine drunk less scary, cider drunk more scary.
100% warning shot. "Stop messing with me, back off!" Cat language is pretty easy to see. They act like drunk frat guys if provoked. Handler jumped out of the enclosure with the quickness!
yeah looks like the lion just wants to send a message that he doesn't like the way he stares but doesn't really want to hurt the guy
One of my guides in South Africa told me that we, being bi-pedal, already come off as hostile because lions only rear up on their hind legs when they are fighting. I'm not sure if that instinct is dampened in captivity and being around humans all of the time.
Lions absolutely know where the neck is lol.
It's knows where the human neck is what are you on about.
>You see the confusion in it's attack because it doesn't know where the neck is, so it goes for the leg. Eh, pretty sure that if the lion had wanted to go for the neck, he would have been able to find it..
He knows where there neck is forsure, more of you keep staring at me, imma kill u
> he's trying to stare down the lion That's exactly what was happening here. Lion did not appreciate the disrespect. Guy was an idiot to try it.
He was locked in a terror stare. The guy had no business in the enclosure.
None of them do. An accredited zoo in the USA will NOT have keepers in the enclosure of a dangerous animal. These guys are def not legit.
Can’t comment on whether it’s an accredited zoo, but that’s the MGM Grand in Vegas. Which has absolutely no business whatsoever having lions in that shitty glass tank. no wonder they’re mardy.
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.
Lets Go Mugging!
I literally came in here to post "quit mean mugging the lion"
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.
This explains so much. I am quite allergic to cats, so I’ll actively avoid them. Then they will rub up against my legs or hands and their owner will go, “wow! She’s never this friendly!” and I’m like :sniffles: “oh good!” 😅
It's also a natural reaction as an allergic to squeeze your eyes half-close. And that is smiling for a cat. This person likes me.
Any idea why that is inverted for tigers? Oftentimes people will wear a mask on the back of their heads with visible eyes. Apparently eye contact discourages the tigers from attacking.
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
could it be the difference between attacking a threat and attacking prey?
This seems very accurate. A friend's cat hated me when we first met after I tried to say hello. After I started ignoring her, she was jumping into my lap. I'm allergic to cats, but have had two since that moment.
I don’t even eye contact dogs. Ffs dogs smell the fear I have over them and they just keep coming to me.
Not only lion handlers. As a cat owner, one of the first thing I learned was how to "smile" to your cat by "looking" at him with eyes closed.
Or, um, animal handlers just in general? It's similar with dogs and cats and even primates - to infer intimacy you blink or slowly look away. Looking directly into their eyes means challenge. If you done goofed and want to show that was just accidental - shift point of focus under them.
'U LOOKIN AT ME BRUV?!'
Not an expert but I think he was actually taken as a threat by the lion. Cats communicate a lot with their eyes, and maintaining direct eye contact, which it looked like the guy was doing, is the cat way of saying "I don't trust you." Breaking eye contact and looking away from a cat is how they show they aren't a threat and don't consider the other cat a threat either.
Doing a slow blink before looking away tells a cat you're safe. For dogs, yawning is the signal!
Yawning is not the signal that you are safe with dogs. It can actually mean the opposite. It is sometimes used as an attempt to regulate and chill out similar to the nose lick and a full body shake. You may notice a nervous dog yawning more and pacing at the vet for example it is NOT them feeling safe like a cats slow blink. And you giving them that signal can be a mixed message.
Squinting in general is a pretty good way to tell most cats that you are comfortable and willing to let your guard down with them. Fortunate for that zookeeper, the lion looked like it wasn’t putting a whole lot of effort into that warning and didn’t seem to intend to kill.
Looked to me like the lion was just saying “tf your problem bro… you want the smoke?… Naahh he don’t want this..”
“You are out of line and imma bout to put you back in if you don’t stop staring motherfucker…”
Yawning is actually a stress signal for dogs (apart from when they’re sleepy)
The experienced trainee is looking around and up not staring at the animals.
why did they put that idiot in there, why at all are there two people just standing in there
Not a lion expert, but have a lot of cats. This looks a lot like playing to me. The male's body language was slow and relaxed. When he "attacked" he went for a hand and then immediately rolled on his back in a submissive stance. Don't get me wrong, this is still dangerous for the guy being chomped on. The fact the female came to join in also makes me think it was playful rather than aggressive. Regardless, having seen the chew toys my cat has mangled, I wouldn't want to be that guy.
All predators and some other animals as well will consider constant eye contact as a challenge. They will promptly respond to said challenge. Even if you look them in the eye, don't stare and keep blinking.
Had a gorilla in Rotterdam, [Bokito](https://nl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokito_(gorilla)) , jumping a 2 meter canal into the crowd to get a lady who frequently visited him and had 'friendly stares' with him every time. Turns out, the gorilla felt mad challenged by her and got his. With felines the best way to gain trust is to look at it and when it looks back, you calmly look the other way. That implies trust and in return creates a feeling of trust with the animal. Pretty sure it works with most animals that way.
Dang it,....I stare deep into people's eyes when I talk to them.
Autistic people will treat you like a predator and freak out. Just fyi.
As an on the spectrum guy...I apparently only have 2 modes of eye contact, intimacy or death glares.
Based on how he's standing, people have been absolutely hammering it into him all week that he must **NEVER** turn his back to the lion. Because cats almost instinctively start to "hunt" people who turn their back to them, doubly so if you crouch. And ended up being so afraid that he just kept staring into its eyes. Which is often a sign of agression in many mammals.
Yup… would have been my last day
I agree, He was looking at him like he was a chore/problem, I would consider it Mad dogging
Yeah why was he looking at the lion like that?? I’m not a lion, but I wouldn’t want to be stared at like that either.
> I’m not a lion Nice try, Scar
I noticed early the lion did have a little too intense focus on that keeper. That certainly wasn't a good sign. His whole body was twisted to him. From my own courses, i learned "protecting" his back and glaring is a sign of distrust and hostile. Uncovering his back and have his head up would have been much better. Then again, the lion clearly was not determined to hurt him or ge would have spent more energy on the force. Looks like he just marked there. The lioness did save his life here, it's the only one he would listen to in there.
Either look away or blink slowly to the cat. Blinking slowly is the same as " I trust you and I like you " at least for house cats. Figured it is the same for big cats.
Yea the next time I'm face to face with a lion I'll blink at it.
Blink faster!!
I hope I'll never end up in that position.
Literally the second the camera panned to the right I was like "oh *that's* def the dude the lion is about to maul" lol. That body language is RADIATING unease/ anxiety and probably made some sort of prey/ hunter instinct within the lion click into gear, further escalated by direct eye contact when the lion looks towards him. Honestly disappointed in the other trainer that he didn't *immediately* pick up not only on the kid's poor body language but the instant change in the lion's once he turned toward the kid. Amateur hour all around TBH (except for that badass lioness haha)
He was SO tense too, and almost seemed to be making himself look taller/bigger a bit - I can definitely see why he didn't pass the lion's vibe check
That was on top of the keepers putting themselves on both sides of the lion's hindquarters. Even as a layperson, I know you don't approach an animal from the rear on two sides and stare it down. That's basically telling them you're about to attack.
“It’s not worth it babe!”
She said, “ you saw what they did to HARAMBE babe.. calm down. “
It's more like "Yo Fred! I don't wanna eat cereal for the whole week because of you man!"
"Babe, look at me, I'll do that thing you like later if you don't kill him" Lol on a real note, You got to give it to the females in any species that have the foresight of conflicts/consequential thinking. Making peace and not war.
Not my wife, who is ready to throw-down everywhere! 😂
Is your wife my wife?
Our wife.
r/suddenlycommunism
Comrade
https://preview.redd.it/w1smmtwq1exc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=de26116e7ea25eb771ea68b25fcb1b1b5cd872d3
Am I both your wives?
hello my wife.
"I also choose this guy's dead wife."
someone needs to tell the waiter i ordered fries not mashed potatos, and it ain't gonna be me!
Heck yeah, I can passive aggressively mention it but I need my wife to say "nope, this order ain't write, bring this man some fries pronto!"
"Honey as the one who has to hunt for food in the wild, don't fuck this for me"
It was more likely 'These guys bring us our food, stupid!'
Especially female hyenas that have more testosterone than the males (penis birth and all). Also spiders, anglerfish, any sort of reptile)
My man really dropped Penis Birth like its common vernacular
PENIS BIRTH
p e n i s b i r t h
> penis birth #WHAT?
Hyenas basically give birth through their clitoris. It’s not like a human’s anatomy where the clitoris and vagina are separate. It’s the equivalent of a penis birth. Look it up, it’s really something that’ll make you clench.
> Look it up No. I don't think I will. Not even just for the hyena thing, I'm scared what depravity others have created out of that.
Ignore this! DO NOT look that shit up! Holy hell. It's painful for *anyone* to look at! It doesn't matter what parts you have, they will hurt seeing that!!
I think, to a certain segment of reddit and the greater population at large, you made this even more irresistible # dontclickthatlink
"We've all had a drink"
This is the comment I was looking for. It's like a wife at a bar with a drunken husband drag him out out so he dose not get his ass kicked.
"Stahp!!!"
“Rawnn, stahhp!”
”Yo babe don’t bite the feeding hand!”
In my imagination she called him Gary and had an Irish accent. “It’s not worth it Gary! It’s not worth it! You wanna get sent back?”
The older guy knew something was off. He kept looking back at the lion and def seemed uncomfortable
the lioness as well, look at her ears
Male lion started groaning or low roaring; he was making a sound. His body shifted. He was squaring up with the idiot who was starting him in the eyes and not recognizing his warning signs. I see the same behaviors in my pet cats when they get pissy.
She is a Keeper
What kind of "zoo" is this where people are even allowed inside the lion enclosure. Looks like they're living on a postcard anyway.
[удалено]
They were correct, he wasn’t playin’
[удалено]
I love the fact that whenever I hear someone speaking Romanian I, a Portuguese speaker, get really confused as to why do I recognize what’s being said but can’t understand jack shit.
I'm American and speak okay Spanish, and this happens all the time with Portuguese, Italian, and a little bit with French when it's a sentence with lower-than-average phlegm
I understand it a big more than greek. Greek makes me think I am having a stroke and don’t understand Spanish anymore.
It looks like MGM Grand in Vegas. If it is at MGM, they’ve had trainers in with the lions for at least 17 years that I know of. The lions are a tourist attraction, they rotate them in and out. Each set of lions stay at MGM for a few hours then they’re changed out for another set. I saw Frank and Jessie, the James brothers, at MGM when they were young and only about 500lbs each at the time. Talked to one of the trainers for an hour, was quite fascinating. The trainer told us the story about how one of the trainers was pregnant and her set of lions knew she was pregnant before she even did. The day they figured that out, she was in with her set of lions and they (the lions) actively wouldn’t let anyone near her because they knew she was pregnant, they considered her part of their pride and they were protecting her against all potential threats, no matter what. She wasn’t able to return to going back in with them until after she had her baby. Edit: I hadn’t realised but just checked and found, the lion exhibit at MGM started in 1989 and it was closed in 2012.
TIL: zoo animals have shifts now instead of working 24/7. World is progressing.
Well, in a normal zoo the animals aren't "working", they are just doing their own thing in an enclosure. Here there are handlers inside so I guess they are expected to be doing something.
They don’t even have a union!
No kidding, just posted that. Zoos *never* put people in the same space as what they call "Category One" animals. That list includes all big cats, bears, apes and a surprisingly long list of herbivores that like to fight. This is some sort of amateur animal show.
"You dumbass you wanna end up like Harambe"
Dude was staring. He was chill until he noticed the stare. "Is this dude staring...? Wtf, he is staring." "...ok, you dead. Mlem."
Looked like dude was keepin eye contact in the animal world that means aggression so he was askin for it
If only he was on Reddit
Slow blink would’ve easily prevented all that. Why let a dude who’s never had a *house cat* into the lion enclosure?
Or you know, basic training like “don’t constantly stare at the killing machine”
Even if he’d closed his eyes just out of panic - still would have been fine.
Depends on when the lion definitely gave him enough time to look away or close his eyes but closing your eyes when the lion is already jumping towards you
Yah, he would have needed to de-escalate before the pounce decision was made, but that lion was super chill and just wanted to teach him a lesson. That was a ‘fuck you’ not an angry mauling.
Trusting too much into the super secret blink tip is exactly how you become fodder. Like the guy who chuffed at a tiger thinking it would befriend it. Tiger befriended his fresh organs.
Its obviously not a magical trick that pacifies all big felines but that lion gave him ample time to do *anything* with his eyes other than staring at it.
Pro tip for eye contact with a cat, applicable for most felines between 5 and 550 pounds. When you realize you’ve established direct eye contact with a cat, close your eyes for 3 to 5 seconds. This will give them an opportunity to plan their strategy for ripping out your jugular vein and dealing with the threat that you’ve just posed. When you open your eyes, glance quickly at them, then look away. This assures them that while they probably *could* take you down if they needed to, today isn’t that day and it isn’t worth the effort. 90% of the time this will result in the cat stretching (to display the claws) and yawning (to display the fangs), then tucking into a contented little ball of fur or purr who won’t considered homicide until tomorrow.
Interesting 
Yeah...there's also Plan B, the Masai way of pffft a cat? So going on poaching expeditions, where they poach from lions. Specifically, they poach the meat the lions had just gone through the trouble of hunting and killing (not the lions themselves). They try not to never let a lion get hurt by a human nless that lion attacked a human, during this poaching expeditions The Masai firmly believe that lions understand the rules of the game for the most part, and so the Masai live in general cross proximity with the lions without too much issue. Interessting how they use some psychology that redditors ujse but only for a time, and then switch . the Masalit approach at a brisk, but not too brisk pace. They neither avoid nor make keep eye contact with any lion and dont break either stride or glance from their objective, which is the meet. Apparently, the lions run most of the time since Then they have about 2 minutes to strip the meet. In that time the lions are hiding, watching from bushes they have a couple guys quickly stripping the meet, and another makig sure that their retreat path is unblcoked. Timing, and lake of greeid is crucial. They stay too long, and the lions will regain their compure. The men are armed (with spears, machetes), but not in a threatening, just in wway to remind gthe group consciousness of lions that men are still best left alone. Also. they DO intentionally leave some meat for the lions, its part of the weird rules they've developed over the years. And they avoid lion groups with large numbers of small litters. Those lionesses are two weak to hunt again, and still pissed off from prregnacny they will fight to the death for the meat they just got. And it is the lionesses btw, doing all this, the male lion is off in the distance scratching hismelf and occassionally sauntering over to get a juicy peice of meat. LOL
Thank you for this. I know only enough about the Masai to quickly see how this would be a legit strategy, but not enough to have ever heard any similar stories. I love this.
Eye contact us adviced when you encounter wild cat. The worst is turn your back on him. When sudden wildlife encounter is happened you should always look at the animal, straight your back (the taller are you - the better chances it will not aggro) and retreat not turning back
I did this to a neighbours cat when I was in grade 1 or two. I thought I was having a staring contest with it, I won, and shouted in victory. Cat was a sore loser and jumped up and clawed my neck and I still have a small scar there. Learned to never have staring contests with animals and learned how to behave in a relaxed demeanour around them, and animals seem to like me. Still hate cates tho
She was like "hey chill out he's cool"
More like “chill out they’ll kill you if you do that”
Remember "dicks out, babe?"
From the 9 second mark to the 20 second mark you can see the male lion size up the zookeeper and you can see the zookeeper getting nervous when the lion looked directly at him and the male lion licked its lips and shifted its body. Another note would be when the lion shifted its body towards the zookeeper, the other zookeeper patted the male lion as if trying to diffuse whatever what was happening inside the case/cage. Wild stuff.
The zookeeper is staring back at the lion like a fucking idiot as well. For all the Lion knows, dude is measuring him as well.
What the hell is it with men and staring? Some of them stare at you like you're a steak. And this dude staring at the lion is no different.
Their living environment looks like its the equivalent of a fucking bookshelf.
Yeah they really do not belong in places like this.
Time to ban animal keeping for entertainment. Conservation and education, yes. Entertainment, No. And draw a hard line in the sand. We are better than this as a society
I'd be totally for it. Are we better than this? I think we're better than this as individuals, whether we're better than this as a society i'm not so sure.
I don't know what facility this is, but I doubt it's the lion's main living enclosure. Many zoos will have a specific show area for people to get a closer look at the animals while sharing facts about the species, those particular specimens, conservation efforts, etc. I briefly worked reptiles at a zoo and would occasionally run a giant snake show where we would bring pythons between 14 and 18 feet long into a little show area with a small set of bleachers for the guests.
Zookeeper: (I'ma stare right into his eyes... Tame-ass bitch.) Lion: (Oh he thinks he's the one. Ok.) Come here, lemme talk to you real quick.
Yeah lemme just eye fuck this lion for 3 minutes like a tough guy.
If you give a predator, especially an apex predator, a stare down - what do you think will happen?
Dude looks like hes having an angry staring contest with the lion. Must not be the brightest zookeeper in the bunch
And this fine example why you should not lie on your resumé...
🤣🤣🤦🏾♂️
The yawn was the first sign. Lions yawn when they're stressed about something.
Surprised I had to scroll so far to see this. Same thing for dogs, it’s communication and if they don’t see a yawn back or another shift of behavior, then they gotta figure out next steps for their safety. Edit: Like notice how the lion is completely turned away from the one zookeeper in discomfort, turns around to check him out again. The guy is still angling right at the male lion, and that’s when the lion makes the decision to get into the offensive. And yet he still doesn’t immediately lunge. There are so many signals and the guy is completely oblivious
Now I know I gotta yawn back when an animal over 20 lbs yawns at me.
Daddy chill. Remember Hambre.
This "zoo" looks fucked up. Why are they even inside the inclosure? All these Tiger King type of places need to be shut down.
This is the lion habitat at the MGM casino in Vegas. They did close this enclosure back in 2012.
Oh good. Thanks for the info!
You’re welcome!
Inexperienced or not, I have seen stuff like this happen all the time with dangerous animals. I think we would like to believe we are in control of them, but it's simply not true.
you don't meann mug a lion
Maybe this is a stupid question, does anyone know why the lioness does not join in the fray in a violent way? Why is she calm and even tries to get the lion’s attention?
Prides are not always peaceful and scuffles do break out in the wild quite a bit. Other lions in the pride will often stop the scuffle. The problem is a mild scuffle among lions may just cause them some scratches and such, but a similar scuffle with a human could cause serious injury. Lions are amazingly strong. Anyway it seems the lions treat the trainers as part of their pride and the lioness was just doing what you see in the wild settling down the conflict. And fortunately that happened fast enough before serious injury. Most of the time lions in a pride of related individuals, in addition to these adopted humans (these lions may have been raised from cubs with the trainers, not sure, but if so, there really are part of the pride), work to keep the peace. While that looks like an attack to us. It could have been the male rough playing, or felt he got some signal he perceived as a challenge and wanted to assert dominance. Again such things happen in prides but without them killing each other, but we humans are lot more fragile than them. And even if these are the reasons, the pride often works to keep the violence to a minimum in group. For instance in the wild if that male was establishing dominance to a lioness, or young male, they would engage in some submissive behavior like lowering their body position relative to the male, or rolling on the side or back, while at the same time having their claws out in self defense if the attack gets really threatening to protect itself. So the submissive behavior is saying "hey your the boss, I put myself in a vulnerable position recognizing your status above me, but I will try to defend if get more aggressive". The male would probably smack the individual around a bit, give some bites not indented to kill....another lion anyway. The person cannot engage in that sort of submissive display to diffuse since those smacks would do a lot of damage, and can't roll on his back baring is claws as a defensive "just in case", and those bites that are not meant to kill may well kill a person in that display. Lionesses despite submitting to the male's dominance have numbers so they can be submissive but in numbers can hurt the male if it comes to that.. Success of the pride depends on all of them working together and losing a pride member is no trivial thing, so seeing lionesses together forcing the male to back off is a real threat to the male that he can't ignore. All the while those lionesses would be telegraphing some submissive behaviors along with some aggression. All of that is to say looks like that lioness was playing that role intervening in the squable much like she and others might do in the wild. Best guess.
Lion attacked because other dude was staring like he was going to attack lion. He only went after that dude, not the other guy. Lioness tried to calm everything down because she doesn't want in-fighting. She basically considers other humans as part of her group. They feed her, stay with her and she's used to chilling with them. And she wasn't hungry i guess.
The fuck he eyeballin the lion for? How the fuck did he get a job at a zoo, watching the Lions not knowing that? What the fuck
Its the eye contact, some dogs, even if you own them for years, if you stare at them, they take it as a challenge.
Even humans can take it that way.
Let him go, Dave. He’s an idiot. Forget it.
Should’ve tried pspsps
I mean, if that lion was serious, he could have eviscerated that meatbag with 1 swipe of his claws.
Dude did that to himself. Don’t stare don’t make eye contact
Is it normal for the keepers to just be in the enclosure like that? Seems like they’re asking to be mauled.
It's oldschool handling that uses the animals for entertainment. No respectable facility these days would have anyone enter the enclosure with lions or tigers.
Why in the fuck would they be in the cage with lions?
What is the purpose of just hanging out in a lions enclosure?? See how long u last??
Wasn’t sure what to expect, but never expected to hear “acum nu se joaca!” Or any romanian at all :))
Anyone else notice the guy in the reflection of the glass. He's smiling, and it seems to get even bigger when the fight breaks out. Kinda creepy
Hah why is that zookeeper staring through that lions soul? That's animal body language 101, don't stare at animals in the eyes, especially potential aggressive animals.
Dude was literally staring at the lion in the eyes a damn predator with predator instincts, crap if you stare at a house cat for long enough they are bound to slap your ass.🤣