Man Cuddles Lions In Zebra Colored Truck (VIDEO)

A man hugs and cuddles lions in his zebra truck in Africa

Befriending a pride of lions never looked so easy.

While it's not certain if that brave man in the YouTube video is a park ranger or professional animal trainer, one thing is for certain. He's certainly got a way with those affectionate big cats in his magnificent zebra truck.

The best part of the clip? When two of them cuddle him and lick his head.

While Asian lions are already listed as an endangered species, African lions have a shrinking population and could be headed in that direction.

According to the not for profit Big Cats Rescue, in the past 22 years wild lion populations have plummeted more than 48% with fewer than 40,000 remaining.

Other not-to-be-missed cute lion videos include a viral video featuring a cute baby lion playing with a toddler in a crib and a pair of cubs attempting to climb out of a massive plastic cup.

From our partners

• Widespread Greenland Melting A Sign Of Things To Come - Climate Central
• Limiting Methane Leaks Critical To Gas, Climate Benefits - Climate Central
• 11 Images And Facts About A Misunderstood Creature - Mother Nature Network

Comments

[crankyCrackPot]

02:25 PM on 03/28/2012

Remember when Roy of Siegfried and Roy put his head into a tigers mouth, got bit and people asked what was wrong with the tiger?

[ackezzy]

12:49 PM on 03/28/2012

i have the feeling hes more than friendly with this ladies when the cameras arent around

[see-ellen2001]

11:31 PM on 03/27/2012

It's all fun and games til someone loses a face.

[Cyrus Trance]

10:33 PM on 03/27/2012

This guy is going to end up like Timothy Treadwell.

[AldenG]

08:11 PM on 03/27/2012

I'm not that cuddly with my own dinner guests.

[linbianism]

03:26 PM on 03/27/2012

those look like hand raised lions, what is the big deal. if they were wild lions they would have blood all over their mouths and mud all over their fur

[crankyCrackPot]

02:25 PM on 03/28/2012

Excuse me.. .cats happen to be VERY clean animals.

[destin023]

08:29 AM on 03/27/2012

One predatory impulse leaves him hanging over the side of the jeep like a ragdoll bleeding profusely, a quick swipe of the paw..

[Targetdog]

08:19 AM on 03/27/2012

I'd cuddle with that guy too! He's a hottie!

[IfIonlyknew]

02:56 PM on 03/27/2012

Lol....

[morenenuf]

08:27 PM on 03/27/2012

I'm so wichyu on this!

[TarinF]

07:32 AM on 03/27/2012

I would like to second the opinion that HP is extremely irresponsible to post this video. It does make it look as though it'd be easy to just drive out into the wilds of Africa, find some lions, and invite them to lounge with you atop your vehicle. In the attempt to post something positive and cute, HP is promoting stupidity without even a warning note. Not cool. (These were clearly older cubs or adolescents, not full adults, as can be seen from the whispy mane of the male.)

[LeftLeanWing]

07:40 AM on 03/27/2012

If someone is stupid enough to attempt to cuddle wild lions after seeing this 1 Minute Youtube...
Then the Final Result is Intellectual Darwinism....at its Best.....

[paddy523]

05:45 PM on 03/27/2012

Well said!!!!

[crankyCrackPot]

02:26 PM on 03/28/2012

Exactly why i do not believe in helmet laws.

[SGOWriter]

07:04 AM on 03/27/2012

Yeah, I know these are lions, but they make me think of the Ogden Nash poem "The Panther":

The panther is like a leopard,
Except it hasn't been peppered.
Should you behold a panther crouch,
Prepare to say Ouch.
Better yet, if called by a panther,
Don't anther.

[SGOWriter]

06:58 AM on 03/27/2012

He is what I call a "fidiot." (Can you guess what the "f" stands for?) Yeah. Looks great. I betcha Roy (of Siegfried and Roy) thought "my cats love me, they'd never harm me" as the tiger began biting his head off. Can you say "cat food?"

The late comedian Robert Schimmel had a great gag about that tiger's attack on Roy and the theory some were peddling that the tiger didn't attack Roy, he thought Roy was suffering a stroke and was trying to drag him off stage to safety.

Says Schimmel: "The tiger thought he was having a stroke???!!! That's something, because the way I understand it, most tiger's who go to med school don't specialize in neurology!"

[Anybodyseenthepopos]

01:15 AM on 03/27/2012

Can't wait till my lunch drives me around and pets me on the head. Of course in light of the speed of evolution it's gonna take my Mac & Cheese another few million years.... I'm patient.

[crankyCrackPot]

02:28 PM on 03/28/2012

If you made it yourself instead of the store bought stuff you may be able to shave off a few million years.

[Anybodyseenthepopos]

04:47 PM on 03/28/2012

LOL. It must be the preservatives.

[BevInSoCal]

12:27 AM on 03/27/2012

That guy is living my dream. Yeah, I know, it's stupidly dangerous, but it's something I've wanted to do since I was just a kid, to lie down with lions. I have no idea what that means, except that I might be just a little off kilter :-/ Or maybe I'm really a lamb. Or a bottom.

[IrieMoon]

09:22 AM on 03/27/2012

Lol!

As a kid my family used to make fun of me because the first thing I did when waking up was go outside and greet all the farm cats and ensure they had enough food and water for the day. It was always a dream of mine to interact with the big cats too but my dream was to cuddle a tiger, not a lion. You're not off kilter.

[BevInSoCal]

12:23 PM on 03/27/2012

It's good to know I'm not alone! Still, my friends and family might argue the "off kilter" thing ;-)

[beachgirll]

08:49 PM on 03/26/2012

Ummm...did anyone see the interior of the jeep? ... Did the lions just feast on foam?

[Yorksgal]

07:03 PM on 03/26/2012

Brave man? I could think of a lot of words to describe this man, brave would be nowhere near being considered.