The age-old rule of a safari park is not to get out of your car, but tourists in Crimea have flipped the script by letting the wildlife inside their vehicle.
Not any wildlife either – a rather large lion.
That remarkable footage was released by Taigan Safari Park in Vilnohirsk, Crimea – a site famous for offering its visitors more proximity to its lions.
The video, which has gone viral, shows Filya the lion climbing into the vehicle to cuddle and lick the visitors.
Remarkably, the video has been released just weeks after a woman was bitten by a different lion, Vitya, in the same park.
The Daily Mail reports that Olga Solomina, a 46-year-old from Kirov, said the predator “bit through my right arm and used it to drag me – it like a puppet”.
“When I got back to my senses, I was already in the hands of the park’s staff who were helping me,” said Olga, who has threatened legal action.
“When it happened, right at the moment of the incident, I actually said goodbye to my life.”
The park’s owner Oleg Zubkov, who can be seen petting Filya in the front of the car in the recent video, claimed Olga had been drinking alcohol before she came into contact with the lion.
“She was given health and safety instructions and entered voluntarily,” he said. “I’m glad to say days after the incident Olga was feeling well.”
