A video posted on Instagram shows a woman in a t-shirt and pants standing just a feet away from a male lion. They stare at each other and she seems to taunt it as she wiggles her body as if she’s dancing. The lion just stares.
Hernan Reynoso captured the video and told News 4 that he was visiting the Bronx Zoo’s African lion exhibit for the weekend with his family, when his wife said “Look at that!” as a woman climbed over the visitor safety barrier. At first, Reynoso thought it was actually part of the exhibit.
“But when I see… she was just there, dancing, saying ‘Hi’ to the lion and everything and that was crazy,” he told News 4. He added that the lion looked to get agitated at one point and roared, so he just grabbed his family and left the scene.
The zoo confirmed the incident to News 4, saying the staff got a report that someone did in fact climbed over the barrier on Saturday.
“This action was a serious violation and unlawful trespass that could have resulted in serious injury or death. Barriers and rules are in place to keep both visitors, staff and animals safe,” the zoo told News 4. “We have a zero tolerance policy on trespass and violation of barriers.”
It was not clear whether there were any actions taken against the woman seen on the video.
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