Las Vegas Honeymooners Catch Lion Attack On Video
While watching a lion demonstration in Las Vegas, honeymooners Drew and Titus Ellis not only witnessed a lion appearing to attack one of it’s trainers, but got the rare opportunity to catch it on video. And that is all over the Internet, which they didn’t expect.
Luckily, the trainer did not get killed, and is recovering. The incident occurred at the Lion Habitat in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The lion who attacked the trainer was not euthanized as is sometimes the case if the trainer is killed or seriously injured.
The resort confirmed the video was from the Sept. 1 incident when a lion lunged at a trainer in full view of casino patrons. The video shows the trainer attempting to hold the lion down and a second trainer stepping in between the two. The lion is eventually pushed away, but continues to walk around the habitat as if in pursuit of the trainer. It’s unknown what prompted the lion to attack the man and the video camera is focused elsewhere when the animal first charges at him.
“If this cat was serious, the damage to the animal care gentleman would be a lot more,” Las Vegas Zoo Director Pat Dingle told FOX5. “The cat had no intentions of doing permanent damage. It wasn’t hungry. It wasn’t anything like that. It was just a quick signal.”
The video shows the lion chomping down on one of the trainer’s legs. Then a second trainer rushes the lion and, with the apparent help of a lioness, they manage to force the attacking animal off. Although the area was soundproof, witnesses said, the trainer’s agony was obvious.
“Just the look on the guy’s face when it’s all going down,” Ellis said. “You could tell he’s in major pain and I am sure he was screaming.”
But it’s likely the lion was just playing too roughly, according to Jack Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo in Ohio and wild animal expert.
“I looked at [the video] about 10 times,” Hanna told “Good Morning America” today. “If that was an attack, it would’ve been over with in about five-tenths of a second.”
A hotel representative told “Good Morning America” the trainer is now recovering and is anxious to get back to work. The animals are back on exhibit inside the resort.
It’s hardly the first time a potentially deadly animal has turned on its trainer. “It looked somewhat like a lunge,” said witness Drew Ellis, who was honeymooning in Las Vegas last week and captured the attack. “He was definitely up on his back feet.”
But Titus and Drew Ellis have a special reason theirs will always stand out. The newlyweds, who live in Montana, were in Las Vegas on Sept. 1, and decided to check out the lion habitat at the MGM Grand Hotel.
Titus was videotaping the lions and their two trainers, when all of a sudden one of the lions lunged at one of the trainers. A struggle ensued, and he managed to free himself with the help of his colleague.
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