Watch: Lion attempts to pounce on boy

'The consequences could have been catastrophic' In the wake of the gorilla tragedy last week comes another story of man vs. beast at the zoo. This time it involves a huge lion, an oblivious child – and an averted calamity.
On Saturday at the Chiba Zoological Park in Tokyo, a male lion was filmed trying to pounce on a small boy with his back turned. Fortunately there was a protective glass wall between the 407-pound lion and his prey. “Lions are natural wild predators,” said lion expert Adam M. Roberts from Born Free USA, “and the child in this video, especially when turning his back to the massive feline, becomes prey in the animal’s eyes. …

The firm glass wall held the lion inside his enclosure, surely frustrating his innate instincts. But luckily for the family, if the barrier had not held the consequences could have been catastrophic.” Animal-rights activists reference the video in pointing on why keeping wild predators in captivity is both cruel and dangerous.

However zookeepers insist the lion only wanted to play with boy and always reacts this way whenever it sees young children. On May 28, a three-year-old boy fell into the gorilla exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo. The zoo’s dangerous animal response team considered it a “life-threatening situation” for the child, and killed the 450-pound male, Harambe.

The incident caused a furious explosion of reaction on the Web, talk radio and television. In Tokyo’s Chiba Zoo, the glass display was introduced in April to allow visitors a closer look at the lions.