Lion Leaps Into Safari Truck Completely Full Of Tourists

Sep 18, 2018

Oleg Zubkov regularly takes tourists to the Taigan Safari Park on lion safaris near his home in Vilnohirsk, Crimea. Visitors love the chance to get up close to the lions from the open-door vehicle, but on a recent tour, one lion decided to get even closer.

When Oleg stopped the vehicle, the lion climbed aboard pushing Oleg out of the driver's seat. Then, the lion preceded to nestle against other visitors and even gave out kisses.

The two-year-old lion who Oleg calls Filya is known to be one of the most affectionate cats living in the park that is known for giving visitors a very close encounter with lions. Oleg says that he hopes that the close encounters will keep people from wanting to hunt the lions and Siberian tigers.

Just a few weeks ahead of the friendly encounter in the vehicle, Olga Solomina was not as lucky when she visited the same park. A lion attacked the Canadian visitor and drug her around by her right arm like she was a puppet. In defending the park that he operates, Oleg says that the woman had been drinking alcohol before she entered the enclosure where the accident occurred. He says that the woman knew the dangers and was ruffling the lion's mane when the accident occurred. He says that is a violation of the park's rules.

Wildlife officials warn that going on these excursions are not a good idea. First, humans can transmit diseases to the lions that can have devastating effects on them. Unprovoked attacks often do not end playfully.

If anyone died, then the lion would have to be euthanized even though it was just doing what came naturally to it.

A Facebook group called Captive Wildlife Watchdog sums it up this way, "The dignity of these majestic beasts (at Taigan Safari park) has been stripped away, reducing them to mere commodities."

Show this post to a friend who may consider helping protect the majestic lion. Then, tell us what you think should happen to lions who have been raised in these parks.