07 June,2016 12:47 PM IST | | midday online correspondent
Video of an adult male lion lunging at a 2-year-old boy at a zoo in Chiba, Japan has gone viral. However, the lion failed to reach infant and managed to collide with the protective glass wall, which was installed around its enclosure
Video of an adult male lion lunging at a 2-year-old boy at a zoo in Chiba, Japan has gone viral. However, the lion failed to reach infant and managed to collide with the protective glass wall, which was installed around its enclosure.
Video courtesy/YouTube
The zookeepers denied reports that the lion wanted to attack the boy. They said the he would act that way on seeing children and simply wanted to play.
The authorities had installed the glass wall a month ago to allow lions see their human visitors more closely than before, according to news reports.
The video shows the toddler looking at the lion through a glass wall. When he turns his back at the lion the beast charges at him only to collide into the wall.
The incident occurred at the Chiba Zoological Park in east Tokyo.
The incident comes days after the shooting of Cincinnati Zoo gorilla Harambe. The 17-year-old endangered silverback gorilla was shot dead in order to prevent harming a 4-year-old boy, who accidentally fell inside his enclosure. The incident sparked public outrage on social media with many slamming the action of the zoo authorities and accusing the child's parents of negligence (Read story)
Also, in Late May, a 20-year-old man attempted to commit "suicide by lion" by jumping into a lion enclosure at the Santiago Zoo in Chile. He was then mauled by two of the lions, who were shot by zookeepers in a bid to save him. (Read story)
