People take safari rides to witness wildlife from the closest point but for this tourist group from South Africa, things got a little too exciting after an African Lion came forward to help pull their vehicle out of the ditch. The fascinating incident took place in South Africa’s Klaserie Private Nature Reserve Part of Kruger National Park. Jabulani Salinda of the Baobab Ridge Game Lodge was leading this group of tourists through Bobab Ridge when the safari vehicle got stuck in a jungle train. Now, such situations aren’t very uncommon in the region, so, the vehicle had a tow rope attached for rescue. The only thing uncommon, however, was that instead of a human, it was a lion who came to the group’s rescue.
The big cat used his teeth to grab the rope and imitated the tug of war as the vehicle moved forwards. The incident was caught on camera and later shared on the Facebook page of the lodge. The caption shared along with the video identified the lion as a male named Vuyela.
The clip shows the big cat digging his paws before wrapping the jeep’s rope around a nearby tree for better grip.
Watch the video here:
The video received over 14 thousand views along with several comments on Facebook. While many called it an amazing experience for the tourist, some users said it was dangerous both for the lion and the tourist on board. The tourist company had to issue a clarification that the incident was just a co-incident, and it was not planned as part of the safari experience.
In a Facebook update, the company said that the guide used the rope to get the vehicle out of the ditch but before he could have removed the rope, the lion grabbed it. The post clarified that the guide neither tried removing the rope in presence of the lion nor drove fast in a manner to provoke the animal. The safety of all parties was considered by the guide in his action.
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