Tourist Who Opened Window To Pet Lion Instantly Regrets It

There are certain videos that leave you seriously scratching your head in bemusement - this clip of a tourist trying to pet one of the world's most notoriously terrifying animals is very much one of them.

After parking up alongside the big cat, who initially seems completely unbothered by the developing situation, one tourist bizarrely decides to lean out of the window, outstretching their arm in an attempt to pet the animal.

From there they get a nasty surprise, that in fairness, could have quite easily turned far uglier than it thankfully did.

After a few seconds the lion turns to face the open window, staring at the tourists and generally now starting to look fairly unimpressed.

A panicked voice from inside the vehicle then says: "Close the window."

As the second tourist struggles to slide the window shut, the lion jumps up and roars.

After some scrambling, eventually they manage to close the opening - the lion still visible in the distance, staring into the car at the people.

A pretty sizeable chunk of comments on YouTube criticised the tourists' actions, with one writing: "Somebody has a brain the size of a flea sitting between their ears."

Someone else said: "Lions are freaking strong... that window wouldn't hold Mufasa back if he wanted to get in."

A third added: "Yeah sure, just ignore the signs that say don't get out your car, do not attempt to touch or feed the animals etc, dumb tour or dumb people taking the tour?"

Another YouTuber commented: "People see lazy lions in zoos, or snoozing during the day in the parks, and have absolutely no idea how freakin' fast a lion actually is.

"I mean, less than a second and this guy could've had a faceful of claws. Go pet your house kitty... feels much the same. House kitty can also tear your face off."

The moral of the story probably shouldn't be one you needed to hear, but if you still have a desire to lean out of a safari car to annoy a massive lion, then don't.