Why do safari goers get to ride in a comfortable, shady cart while lions, the real stars of any foray into the African savannah, have to lay under the hot sun?
That's the question this lion must have been asking himself before he caused a group of tourists to see their lives pass before their eyes.
The video was captured at Taigan Safari Park in Vilnohirsk, Crimea, owned by Oleg Zubkov, who is known to many as the "lion whisperer." According to The Daily Mail, "Zubkov is well-known for taming big cats and letting tourists get close to the wild animals."
— (@)
In the video, the lion (whose name happens to be Filya) climbs into an open-air cart and is seen cuddling and licking several passengers, some of whom laugh and take selfies while others flee.
— (@)
Twitter was equal parts delighted and terrified:
— (@)
— (@)
— (@)
— (@)
— (@)
— (@)
Though Filya is undeniably adorable in this clip, the event captured on video took place just eight weeks after another woman, Olga Solomina, was mauled by a different lion, named Vitya, at the same park.
Solomina's story does raise some questions about safety at Taigan Safari Park:
[The lion] bit through my right arm and used it to drag me - it like a puppet.
— (@)
Maybe the more cautious crowd has a point.
— (@)
Most of us will never be confronted with an up-close-and-personal lion-based choice like these passengers were, and that's probably for the best. A wrong choice next to a lion might be the last choice you ever make.
