Man Wakes Up to Hungry-Looking Staring Lion in South Africa [Video]

A man in South Africa wakes up only to find a hungry-looking staring lion which was peeking through his kitchen window.

Reports of the lion encounter were shared online earlier this week but is believed to have occurred more than a year ago.

Regardless, the tense moment between the man and the wild animal went viral on social media.

The African lion species once lived and roamed the continent of Africa and some regions of Asia and Europe.

However, their population has significantly decreased due to reported hunting, illegal wildlife trade, and other anthropogenic factors as human settlements grew, in a phenomenon of what is called human-wildlife conflict.

Natural causes like climate change and habitat loss also contributed.

The relative growth of our population has also led to multiple lion attacks in Africa, with reported fatalities beginning in the late 19th century.

Although African lions and other lion species have long been considered wild animals by nature, their attacks on humans are rare but do occur.

Outside Africa, attacks have been reported in different countries, including the United States and Canada.

Staring Lion

(Photo : Image by Angela from Pixabay)

The man, who was a nature guide instructor, just woke up from his bed and prepared himself a coffee in his kitchen, where he was left in awe after seeing the male lion gazing at his window, the website gistreel reported on Tuesday, July 4.

Video of the incident was captured at Bhejane Nature Training within the Somkhanda Game Reserve near South Africa's Pongola area in the province of KwaZulu Natal, according to Newsflare.

Also Read: Man Mauled to Death by Lions After Climbing Zoo Enclosure in Ghana

Africa Lion Attacks

While the male lion did not attack the man in the viral video, the case could be different if there is no physical barrier between the two.

This assertion is based on the studied behavior of lions, which are known for stalking their prey first while hunting it.

As mentioned earlier, the first cases of lion attacks started in Africa, particularly in the Tsavo region of Kenya in 1898, between the months of March and December.

The predators were known as the "Tsavo Man-Eaters" involving a pair of male lions who hunted and killed construction workers of the Kenya-Uganda Railway.

The pair killed a total of 135 people, according to an official written statement by a worker on the railway, as cited by the Smithsonian Magazine.

Another lion attacks were reported in Zambia, where a man-eating lion devoured to death six people in 1991, according to the Field Museum.

US, Canada Lion Attacks

North America is not exempted to lion attacks, as reported in recent years.

In the U.S., a mountain lion attacked and wounded a man while he and his wife were relaxing in an in-ground hot tub in a heavily wooded area, located 5 miles west of Nathrop Colorado, ABC News reported in March 2023.

In Canada, a cougar (also called a mountain lion) nearly killed a young boy south of Edmonton in 2022, leaving him with hundreds of stitches and "nightmares," according to the country's CBC news.