![]() ![]() Lions and other animals are imprinted to chase prey and attack if you take off. “What you want to do is project that you are bigger and badder than they are,” Schaeffer said.īurgess had the right idea by keeping his eye on the lion, standing tall and yelling a lot. If you have a small child with you, pick them up without bending over. Lowering yourself to the ground could make you seem less threatening, from the cat’s perspective. Some comments on social media asked: Why didn’t Burgess just throw a rock? If you watch carefully, Schaefer said, the lion mock charged him when he bent over. Bottom line: If you see young animals in the forest, stay away - and assume that mom is close by.Įxperts agreed that being aggressive is the best defense when it comes to mountain lions. But then the lion quickly reappeared and continued the chase. “I thought, man, she’s going into hunting mode now,” she said. For Schaefer, the most heart-stopping part of the video was when the lion veered off the trail and into the brush. ![]() They are ambush hunters, meaning their prey wouldn’t know it was being tracked until it was too late. ![]() The pounces and jumps the lion made when Burgess bent over to grab a rock, called mock or bluff charges, are something big cats don’t do when they’re going in for a kill. Zoo, called the mountain lion’s actions typical “escorting behavior” aimed at scaring Burgess. The mountain lion immediately put herself between her young and Burgess and, early in the encounter, more than once looked back in the direction of the kittens because she was concerned about their safety, Riley said.īeth Schaefer, director of animal programs at the L.A. “The lioness in the video was just trying to get the hiker (whom she considered a threat) as far away from her cubs as possible.” “Mothers of any animal species become aggressive when protecting their young,” San Bernardino National Forest wildlife biologist Angelica Mendoza wrote in an email. They were mountain lion babies and, almost immediately, mom sprints from around the corner and moves toward him.īurgess didn’t get close to the young, but his presence probably set mom off. The full video (some news outlets edited the footage down to shots of the lion acting aggressively) starts when Burgess sees what he thinks are bobcat kittens at a distance and begins filming. ![]()
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