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"3 wrestlers vs. 1 lioness = lioness doesn't even break a sweat."
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This was not just any game of tug of war. This was a tug of war game between three professional WWE wrestlers and a beautiful lioness called Axelle, and unsurprisingly, she beat all three of them.
"You've got these three huge men and they're barely budging, they're barely able to pull on this," San Antonio Zoo Director of Public Relations Chuck Cureau told MYSA. "It just demonstrates the power these wild animals have. They may be trained but they're certainly not tamed, and people underestimate the power of these animals."
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"We try to simulate what they would do out in the natural environment. It is tough, they have to forage for food, compete for food, to through long periods of time without food," Cureau continued. "Fortunately in a zoo, they're going to get that food every single day, but we try to vary it up so they don't get bored."
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There is no set schedule to these games. If the lions are interested, they will tug on the rope. If not, no one makes them. And clearly, when this lioness saw the three men setting up to play with her, she wanted to show off a little. "She's not moving," one of the wrestlers said as he dropped the ropes.
"These wrestlers are incredible physical specimens, they are indeed athletes. I (saw) these grown muscular men pick up other grown muscular men and throw them down," Cureau said.
Scroll down a little further to watch the full video.
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3 professional wrestlers face off against 1 lioness in a game of 'tug of war' in a zoo enrichment program, she surprises everyone by not even breaking a sweat
You look at enough pictures of adorable lions and other big cats online, and you might… lose the sense of just how dangerous they are. We say that from experience. For our job, we have to constantly scroll through cute pics of big cats. That's not a complaint, obviously, but we do joke about how we'll end up on the news one day for petting something that we shouldn't for a reason. Because we kind of forget. Sue us. They're adorable. And if we even got the chance, we would try to make friends with them.
It is good, we suppose, to be reminded sometimes of why we maybe shouldn't be trying to reach into the cage at the zoo. And we can't think of a more awesome way of showing that than letting a couple professional wrestlers go up against one adorable lioness in a game of tug of war. As cute as lions are, we know that they are strong. And still… the pan of that camera managed to surprise everyone, including us.
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