How does a wild African lion feel about being watched all the time by the purr-parazzi? In our ever-shrinking world, many of our Big Cats have become accustomed to seeing tour group vehicles and cameras taking pictures. It brings revenue to the parks, which helps protect the cats and other wildlife. But Big Cats must be very curious about what those silly humans are doing in their territory.
Given a chance, what would a lion do to one of those pesky camera contraptions? And we shudder to think about the photographer, but fortunately, attacks are rare. Lions are intelligent and have vastly more to fear from people than we do of them today. But here’s a story that shows us that lions are, at the very least, intensely curious about what cameras are all about.
A Lioness Meets the Purr-parazzi’s Camera
Wildlife photographer Ahmed Galal, 38, was at the Massai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. He was with a group who spotted a lioness, who may have weighed as much as 320 pounds or (145 kilograms). A funny idea came to mind: he was curious about what the lioness would do if they left behind a GoPro camera on a stick nearby.
They probably expected the lioness would come over and give the camera a sniff at the most. Or maybe she would be more cautious and merely come close to investigate. But as Galal’s video showed, this lioness wasn’t shy at all about the camera. Possibly, she saw it as her first chance to settle once and for all what that contraption was about.
She seized the moment and the camera, and the results were hilarious!
“I’ll show you, humans!” she may have thought. “You’ll never see this thing again!”
Lioness approaches a GoPro camera on a stick at the Massai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Image captures via YouTube. Video by Wildlife photographer Ahmed Galal
Lioness Seized the Moment – And the Camera!
The lioness approached with some caution but couldn’t resist giving the GoPro a sniff.
The lens made her nose look enormous and comical. Having gotten a sniff, she wanted more and grabbed the gadget by the stick, making off with it through the park at a full run.
She proudly carried her prize away as the lens caught the strange, distorted point of view. The earth around her curved as she appeared to be mostly a giant animated walking nose and whiskers with tiny legs.
She’s giving ‘Chester Cheetah’ vibes more than Queen of the Jungle.
Image of Chester Cheetah via Wikipedia
View this post on Instagram
The GoPro Survived the Encounter
Having reached a safe distance from the tourists, she released her prize, only to dash off with it once more. That’s when Galal, safe inside a Jeep, gave chase, and she released the camera. Amazingly, the camera still worked after the lioness released it into the grass. They were lucky indeed to get it back in one piece.
And the resulting video shows that lions are certainly curious about what people are doing. Was she also giving us all a message? What do you think she might have been saying to people that day?
We think it’s another reminder that Big Cats deserve ample respect and room to live free.
Video by The Telegraph:
