- Man pets big cat from close range through jeep window which is left wide open
- The lion then turns around and lets off an almighty roar causing tourist to flinch
- Ranger Naas Smit said they were lucky the predator didn’t drag him out of the window or tear his arm off
A safari tourist got the fright of his life when he tried to stroke a lion out the window of a jeep and was met by a terrifying roar.
Shocking footage shows the man petting the big cat’s back with the vehicle’s window wide open.
The male lion then turns around and lets out an almighty roar prompting the tourists to flinch and slam the window shut before letting out loud sighs of relief.
South African safari ranger Naas Smit said:’Only those who work in the wild know the speed of a lion and it could have torn the arm off the person touching it.
‘It would have the power to pull that tourist straight out of that window and kill them instantly in front of their friends. It was an incredibly stupid thing to do.
‘It could also just have easily crashed its way through the open window and torn into those inside. They were lucky to get away with it. They are wild animals.
‘If the lion had killed this person then game rangers would probably have had to have killed it and if it was the pride male it could have serious consequences.
South African safari ranger Naas Smit said the pranksters were lucky not to have their arms torn off
‘I just have to shake my head when I see people behaving like this and they deserve all they get’ he said.
Last month British safari park owner Mike Hodge was savaged by one of his own lionsafter stepping into its cage.
Mr Hodge, 72, from Wilmslow in Cheshire, suffered a broken jaw and lacerations following the brutal mauling at the Marakele Animal Sanctuary in South Africa.
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