LION CUB MESMERISED BY WIGGLING TOES DURING INCREDIBLE CLOSE ENCOUNTER
WITH PIX AND VID
By Shuk Yee Tsang
A curious lion cub couldn't resist a closer look at a wildlife filmmaker’s feet, ignoring it's mother's calls in the background to inspect his wiggling toes instead.
Wildlife filmmaker Kim Wolhuter, 66, from Mpumalanga, South Africa was sitting quietly in the Sango Wildlife Conservancy in Zimbabwe when the young lion walked right up to him.
Instead of following its mother’s lead, the cub fixated on Kim’s foot movements, gently pawing and sniffing in a moment of calm fascination.
Kim said the moment was made even more striking by the cub’s sibling, who hung back, clearly more cautious while their mother could be heard calling from just out of sight.
The intimate encounter was the result of years of trust and patient observation. Kim, who has spent decades documenting African wildlife, described the moment as a reminder that lions like all cats can be both fearsome and playfully inquisitive.
Kim said "That wiggly toe. A very curious kitty. Mum calling in the background, but this little guy has other interests.
"A lion cub is ignoring his mom calling him in the background and is more interested in me sitting on the ground wiggling my toe. His sister is a little more cautious “
The comment section chimed in with: "Amazing how gentle he is with your toes. Very special interaction!
"Good you still have your toes. Is that mum lion so close in background? Amazing.
"Cats will be cats!
"Honestly blown away by how naturally you interact with wildlife. It’s magical!
"That's my whole bucket list scraped and replaced with this."
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