Tumblr Thread: Tug Of War Between Lioness And 3 Professional Wrestlers

This is one video that you do not get to see every day, animal lovers. A tug of war enrichment game between a lioness and three professional wrestlers. Yup, you read that right. And guess who the winner is.

It's amazing, how easily we forget just how strong and dangerous these adorable fluffy big cats are. We look at pictures of wild animals and sometimes wish that they would interact with us puny humans - looking at insane videos of people who are part of a lion's pride, we feel jealousy, but then seeing a tumblr thread like this reminds us of just how dangerous they are. 

Although we don't love that this animal is in captivity in the first place, we are glad that the people working at the San Antonio Zoo are trying to give her such enrichment programs and make her day a little more fun. 

Author image for Mariel Ruvinsky Mariel Ruvinsky
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  • 01
    via cats-and-company

    When we came across this video on our timeline, the last thing that we expected as we were watching it was for a lioness to be at the other end of that rope. It is absolutely stunning how strong these animals are. And seeing her in action against three professional wrestlers no less is amazing.

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  • 02
    Joint - cats-and-company Follow ALIKS 33 Queen.
    via cats-and-company

    We, as cat people, look at big cats and almost find them unassuming. We think most of us out here have dreamt of cuddling one of these creatures. This is as good of a reminder that we are going to get of just how dangerous they are. ...Even though we would still love to pet them. 

  • 03
    Vertebrate - cats-and-company Follow Queen.
    via cats-and-company
  • 04
    Font - candiikismet Follow I always have to reboot this. ordinaryredtail Follow For anyone wondering, this is amazing enrichment for the animal and a great way to involve guests! The lions aren't forced to play with the rope if they don't want to, and these guys (and anyone else who tries this out) have an awesome close up and hands on experience, all without having to come in direct contact with the cat!
    via cats-and-company
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  • 05
    Font - little-miss-mash Follow @why-animals-do-the-thing why-animals-do-the-thing This definitely counts as #actually cute. This video is from the San Antonio Zoo, and the lioness' name is Axelle. As @ordinaryredtail said above, the tug of war interaction is entirely voluntary on her part.
    via cats-and-company
  • 06
    Font - My guess is that the zoo staff did use some positive reinforcement training to teach her how to pick up and pull on the rope at first, because that's not necessary something a lion would just do on their own. While it's also probable that she's rewarded with something tasty did choosing to engage with the members of the public like this, Axelle wouldn't be engaging if it was a negative experience for her (there aren't enough snacks in the world to coerce a lion into doing something they f
    via cats-and-company
  • 07
    Font - Some sanctuary and animal rights groups have taken issue with this interaction because they consider it unethical to ask a lion to engage in any "unnatural behavior" "for the benefit of the public," calling it exploitation. It is worth keeping in mind, however, that learning and engaging in novel behaviors is hugely enriching for animals in human care, and that lions have no concept of exploitation. As long as the lion is not bothered by the presence or noise of the crowd, is not injured
    via cats-and-company
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  • 08
    Font - bookgeekgrrl Follow #3beefcakes v. one good girl (via @doctortay) kelssiel Follow there aren't enough snacks in the world to coerce a lion into doing something they find actively distressing
    via cats-and-company
  • 09
    Rectangle - ledinwind Follow The crazy part about it is, the people pulling the rope are wrestlers. 3 of them are active and one is a trainer/retired wrestler. But that's crazy! Don't mess with wildlife folks.
    via cats-and-company
  • 10
    Font - anarcho-compass Follow Cat nopostradio Follow I've done that with a tiger at Busch Gardens in Tampa. I outweighed the tiger by 70 pounds myself, and there were four other people on the rope... And she quite handily kicked our asses. She got a meatball as a reward. They also dumped a bunch of ground cinnamon around the edge of the enclosure, apparently it's almost as good as catnip. 265,127 notes
    via cats-and-company

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