A bizarre incident took place in New York, where a woman jumped the barrier of the lion enclosure at a zoo and started dancing and tossing money at one of the lions.
It happened at around 4pm on Thursday, Nov. 11, according to the Bronx Zoo in New York.
Footage shared on social media shows the woman in a red dress carrying some roses before she starts dancing just metres away from a lion.
In the clip, recorded by the woman’s husband, she can be heard talking to the lion as she declares “I missed him so much”.
Her husband has since described the stunt to News 4 as “definitely surreal”, adding that she addressed the lion by saying “King, I love you, I came back for you”.
Concerned onlookers alerted zoo staff but by the time they arrived she had jumped back out of the barrier.
In a statement, the zoo explained that she wasn’t actually in too much danger as a moat separated her and the lion.
A zoo spokesperson said: “Video shows she crossed a barrier into a planted area near the exhibit. The woman was not in the exhibit as has been falsely reported and she was never in the same space as the lions.
“This situation involves one individual who is determined to harass our lions with no regard for her safety, or the safety of our staff and our guests, and no regard for the well-being of the lions.
“We have an NYPD substation in the park and are working closely with them to resolve this situation with this individual.
“The Bronx Zoo has a zero-tolerance policy in matters such as this and will aggressively seek prosecution against this individual and anyone who violates park safety rules.”
It turns out that the exact same thing occurred at the same spot at the Bronx Zoo in 2019.
Back then, a woman named Myah Autrey jumped into the same spot and appeared to taunt the lions as she danced. She was charged with criminal trespassing.