The danger of animal shoots - a playful lion in Canada

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A playful lion injured a martial arts expert who was posing for the covershoot of a magazine. The video

and story located here:</p>

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href="http://www.thestar.com/DesiLife/article/347684">http://www.thestar.com/DesiLife/article/34768

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I found Kolanad's martial art posturing and posing annoying.

No posturing on the Lion's part, just direct and to the point with very little wasted movement, now That's martial art!

That's pretty much what you should expect when you treat a wild animal like a pet rather than give it the respect due to it. While animals may become habituated to humans, thinking of them as "tame" leads to such problems.

 

The people were clearly at fault. The lion was simply doing what lions do, in fact it was quite restrained in that it made no attempt to bite. It was just a predator prey reflex action.

It is the dummest thing in the world to believe that a wild cat either a big one (Lion, Tiger, Leopard) or a small one (like Serval and Caracal which are frequently for sale in the USA) will ever become pets. They might seem friendly for a while but the predator instinct is always there and some day they will attack for sure. Wild animals belong to wilderness not in the zoo or private properties.

Wildlife photography is my interest and all these years I have never ever felt any kind of threat taking animal shots. As long as you show respect and keep your distance you are in no danger at all.From my point of view accidents like this mentioned above are the result of human stupidity....nothing more, nothing less

While Kolonand was foolish and irresponsible, and the Lion was only behaving as lions do (She's lucky it didn't open it's mouth) their are others involved who deserve a telling off too. The guy who dreamed up the scheme needs his head examined as well.

All in all, a stupid and idiotic thing to do by all involved. Except the lion...

This is simple - what a bunch of freaking idiots. Handlers, model, the whole bunch.

A stupid stunt by all involved.Lions are not "props" to be manipulated to create a "shock" factor for a photograph.The lion was not given the respect it deserved.

One word...Photoshop.

Paul....would you please elaborate?

Its interesting everyone thinks this was a "dumb" thing to do. Wild animals are continuously used in the media, for movies and advertisement.Time and time again "tamed" wild animals attack, I don't see it as a matter of just respect the animal and everything will be fine. It is a good starting point but not a sure solution, respect the animal by understanding the possibility of it attacking. It is only stupid if they do not accept that possibility. After that it is about all involved understanding and accepting the risk in hopes of a great shot.

I can't believe they kept going after the first hint the lion wasn't into it. The shooter is a very experienced guy from the Toronto Star. Either he or the handler should have pulled the plug.

I don't see much controversy here regarding blame. I didn't get the impression anyone who was involved in the shoot blamed the lion. Personally I wouldn't want to be near a even a friendly playful lion but if they understand and want to take the risk that's their call.