How to Pet a Lion

 By Michelle C. Carr-Crowe

Growing up, I always wanted a pet lion. I imagined myself presiding over a wild game preserve of animals, especially the big cats - lions and tigers, panthers and leopards. (Not surprisingly I later became involved in cat rescue organizations, fostering and socializing kitties for new families.)

I recently finished reading the book, "A Lion Named Christian" about Christian the Lion, the big cat in the "lion reunion" video made famous on YouTube. Did you know the owners (or as people say today, the "pet guardians"), actually bought (not adopted) the lion cub at Harrah's Department Store in London?

When I shared the story with my family, my oldest daughter immediately wanted to travel to Harrah's to buy a lion. Sorry, they no longer sell, nor adopt out, big pets there anymore.

When King John Elvis Presley (my youngest daughter's dear pet) recently died and moved up to kitty heaven, more than ever I felt a burning desire and NEED for our family to reconnect with a real live lion. 

Fortunately, I knew where to go. Legally, I mean.

Back when my children were younger, we visited the West Coast Game Park Safari in Bandon, Oregon. Even though my children were small (my youngest was a toddler) we got to go inside the special teaching area to pet two white tiger cubs. It was very cool.

This summer, we made a detour (okay, a very long detour) to visit them again. We were in luck - in addition to the possum, skunk, anteater and red fox, everyone in our family got to pet two different big cat cubs - one was a lion and the other was a snow leopard. Interestingly, the lion's fur was much coarser as compared to the soft fur of the snow leopard.

So back to how to pet a lion ...

•1)       Obey the lion handler's instructions.

•2)       Wash your hands first. (Don't tempt the lion with the aroma of your steak sandwich.)

•3)       Don't treat a lion, tiger or other big cat or cub like a dog or domestic cat.

•4)       Sit or kneel quietly near their level and wait for the handler to bring the lion to you.

•5)       Unless the handler says otherwise, don't let the big cat sniff your hand first. Anything put in front of a lion's face, including a human hand, is interpreted as food or fun-and an open invitation for the animal to bite, chew or engage in "mouth play" with it.

•6)       Never chase, run after, pounce on or try to hug the lion for the same reason.

•7)       Do pet only from the back of the neck/top of the shoulders and down. Always start by petting the back first, then depending on the cub's reaction, it may be okay to pet or pat their sides. However, if you start with the sides, a lion may interpret the pats as pokes or swats by a peer and begin typical lion play. (Again, you don't want that.)

Here is the link that shows some back footage when Christian the Lion is younger; about 2:40 into it is the reunion part, where the lion, who'd been introduced into the wild and hadn't seen the authors for over a year - sees them again. It's a real tear-jerker.

 http://sharerevmedia.com/component/option,com_seyret/Itemid,52/task,videodirectlink/id,1251085/

Also, here are some photos from our lion and leopard petting adventures this summer.

http://www.facebook.com/justcall?v=photos&ref=profile#/album.php?aid=2021178&id=1020843477

The West Coast Game Park can be contacted at 541-347-3106 or online at www.gameparksafari.com.