Zoo Lion and Toddler Mix in New Video (VIDEO)
A toddler dressed in a black and white hooded jacket had a close encounter with a lion, officials say. Thankfully there was a double-paned window between the two, otherwise the encounter could have ended fatally.
Baby Jack, 1, was at the Oregon Zoo with his parents, enjoying watching the lions play in their cage. One lioness took an interest in Jack and immediately came up to the window and began clawing and trying to "attack" Jack.
People watching the spectacle recorded the interaction and posted it online, causing it to go viral.
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"It was Jack's first trip to the zoo. We didn't even realize he looked like a zebra until we got home, but a lot of the animals in the zoo— the crocodiles and the jaguars— apparently did. They would come up to the glass and look at him," his mother, Heather Baltzor, told the Huffington Post.
Jack was unfazed by the attention and merely told the lion, named Kya, "Hi kitty, kitty." The family plans to take Jack to the San Diego Zoo later this summer, and he may just wear that now-famous black and white jacket. After all, it gets him special treatment at zoos.
No one in Jack's family or the zoo was too upset at Kya's behavior, which is described as "typical prey behavior," by Oregon Zoo Director Kim Smith. Thanks to the double-paned window, both Kya and Jack could enjoy each other's company, though Kya appears to be frustrated at not reaching her prey.
The video has already received over 1 million views, and reactions are mixed. Some say the parents should have known better than to dress their son as a zebra and put him in front of a paned-glass window near the lions. Others, however, merely enjoy the humor and desperation evident on Kya's face as she tries to get to the boy.
