Now playing over on the CuteCast…
As posted in comments by P. Erasmus 
OMG—he did not just do that [Massive purring sounds]
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I am growing increasingly fond of lions. “Secondhand Lions” helped, but this is better.
Sorry, but that is stupid, not cute. When the guy is mauled, it will seem so obvious.
I saw this on the news and was hoping so much that it would be added to this site. This woman is going to heaven for sure. Just a wonderful and heartwarming story.
This video has restored my faith in humanity.
A few of my friends were sick with colds, winter malaise, etc., so I emailed this to them all yesterday. Upon viewing they all immediately made complete recoveries.
Oooooo, I wanna hug the kitty!
It’s the Martin Luther King of Beasts. Coexist, Peeps!
i have been looking at this website every day for at least a year now because i <3 cuteness and this is the first time i have felt the need to post a comment. that is the most ADORABLE and SWEETEST thing i have ever seen. i can't stop watching!!! THANK YOU!
I want to do that! Can you imagine cuddling that huge amount of fur?
those paws are HUGE
That is one of the most complete and obvious expressions of inter-species gratitude I’ve ever seen. Amen, pyrit.
Oh, and Cory–if that lion wanted to maul and maim he’d have done it right through the bars of the enclosure. There’s not a claw in sight.
Ah, very cute. I like how he’s just chillin’ there, and she’s all “Heeeeeeey buddy!!” and he looks up and says, “Well kiss my grits!! Look who it is. Gimme a HUG, woman!”
Judging from details, that’s a declawed lion — quite likely he’s had his incisors removed too. The kind of people who abuse big cats are very likely to do that, alas.
Not that a full-grown lion isn’t strong enough to seriously hurt you, but it’s less dangerous than it looks here.
Animals NEVER cease to amaze me!
I am inexpressibly jealous of this woman.
lion huggles!
I would love to bury my face in that massive mane, with paws bigger than my face wrapped around my shoulders.
(while NOT being eaten, of course).
What an amazing and wonderful woman. She deserves every lion huggle she gets!
That poor lion, I’m glad he’s happy now! But what a lucky woman to be able to get lion hugs, and bury her face in his neck ruff of fuzzy beauty.
while it’s very cute, obviously he didn’t hug her spontaneously. He’s not grateful, he’s well-trained.
I’m with paradox. It’s adorable to watch but he is clearly trained to do that when she bangs on the cage and says “Besos.” Nevetheless, I wish I could do that.
>phtuuphtuuphtuu<
LOL Heather! We share the same name and the same feelings! Bwahaha!!
Big kitty Purrrr..
Jen — no kidding. I’m guessing “big cat” = “big SHEDDING MACHINE”
…still an awesome clip, tho.
OMG! Scary and heartwarming all at once. You can clearly see the lion is being gentle but I can’t help but hold my breath while it’s giving the hug
As a looooongtime cat lover, also loved by cats, well, first he wasn’t even looking her way when she walked up to his cage so of course she’s going to bang on the bars. But, when he sees her, even *if* he was trained to hug her, that is some *serious* nuzzling going on there. You do *not* train cats to nuzzle … they do it of their own free will. And, they *only* nuzzle the ones they seriously love … like this big kitty is doing right here. ‘nuf said.
And Their are people that do not believe that animals remember you. THEY DO here is some proof.
Oh my. I am so crying right now. I freakin’ love animals, don’t you!?!?!?!
Can you support the weight of a lion? If he would put his paws on the shoulder of the woman I don’t think she would still be standing up. She would have crumbled and probably be buried in a huge amount of soft fur. Talk about heaven.
Cory – Nooo. Not today. Not tomorrow. This lion is not going to maul this lady.
Same could not be said of former owner.
Dat der is one marshmallow-paw puddy tat wuvvin-huggin his foweveh fwend buddy lady.
paradox, Formica – Pa-lease, get thee to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr1pWzoLvT8
I wanna hug a lion. This woman is impossibly lucky – but then again, she deserves the hugs.
omg!! there are now tears of love all over my breakfast!!
I would be willing to accept the lion-size case of allergies I’d get, just to enjoy that king-size snuggle!
–TwoDragons
I think it looks wonderfully sweet, and i’d be the first person to take a chance to dig my hands in a gorgeous lions mane… but it looks to me like nothing more than a trick she has likely taught the animal during it’s recovery. Her encouraging it to come up onto it’s hind legs led to it standing and using her for support, and moving it’s head to the side for comfort against the bars.
I wish i saw more than that, truly! It’s still an amazing video, who wouldn’t want to be able to touch a creature of such power. But it’s a dangerous thing attributing human emotions to animals – even though they can be very spiritual forces.
[/contraversial]
ah, and apologies for repeating formica and paradox. And isn’t that wierdest sounding sentence? Hrm.
We always consider the source, pheral.
Yeah, it’s dangerous, but sometimes you have to sacrifice safety for teh cute.
Also, I have a feeling any danger is going to be more in the “kitty doesn’t know his own strength” accident type area. Not a vicious lion.
Also, sadly, there aren’t going to be any giant purrs from that lion. As far as I can remember from some animal planet special, the voiceboxes of BIG cats (your lions, your tigers) are designed for roaring and can’t make a purr. Cheetahs are the only big cats that can both purr and roar, and they also CHIRP!
Of course, I think that cougars were counted as small cats in that particular show, so maybe I’m off on this.
Yes, I saw this the other day, and have to say it is officially one of the Qtest and most heart-warming things I have ever seen in my life. I want to be hugged and kissed by a lion! (Nicely, that is).
Wow … sweet but scary nevertheless!!!!
Hey people,
I’d love to know how to send a donation to this lady for her shelter, there’s an article on her and she rescues all sorts of animals — anyone have any ideas?
http://www.local6.com/news/10726779/detail.html
i would also like a lion nuzzle *raising hand*
I emailed meg a picture version of this same moment. it’s so sweet.
http://www.thecollectivelens.blogspot.com/
There’s a really sweet little story based off this photo.
ElizabethB.– Hmm, I’m not sure about that. I seem to remember seeing a very friendly liger once who did a sort of groan/purr as it nuzzled its handler. Much deeper and a bit less regular than a normal cat’s purr, but certainly not a roar, so I don’t think the no purring is a hard and fast rule. Of course, the last malamute I knew liked to bark at me when we played, so I may just be lucky at witnessing anomalous animal vocalizations
.
Yeah, it’s dangerous, but sometimes you have to sacrifice safety for teh cute.
So true!
Zombiest… do malamutes not bark? I know my husky will woo and howl, but very rarely bark and when she does it’s very wimpy. I think huskies are probably the most vocal dogs I’ve met. They certainly try to talk… and she picks up kittens and snorgles them too.
Aw. That video of Christian the lion reuniting with his people reminds me of “Born Free.” Remember? Elsa the lioness? The book and the movie were both great. I saw the movie again not too long ago and it still makes me bawl like a baby.
When I pat my lap my cat will jump up because she likes it when I pet her. The lion might be reacting to the affection it knows its going to get, not necessarily due to specific training.
I like to think the lion is tasting her. *laughs* Damn cute.
What this reminded me of was the Narnia books, and Lucy burying her head in Aslan’s fur. It’s adorable.
well paradox, do you think he spontaneously learned to do that when they said “besos.” they had to get her/him to hug, while they said ‘besos’ so that he/she would learn it, and NOW comes to hug her when the cage is pounded and she says besos. so yea…
MamaDawn– malamutes supposedly do not bark, just speak or howl. Some are known to try to emulate other dogs’ barks if they live with non-malamutes, but most owners say that it comes out tiny or goofy if at all. And every husky and malamute I’ve met has also been a total sweetheart, I can just imagine the kitten snorgling
.
And responding to my own comments about big cats purring, a bit of poking around online tells me that big cats only purr on exhale rather than constantly like housecats, which explains why the liger sounded less regular. Handy, this internet!
Is this lion vs. the previous post’s tinykins the biggest size differential ever featured in a day of CO kitties or what?
That is cute, but also freaky! Interspecies friendships are cute. But when one grossly dominates the other in size and power, it’s kind of scary, IMHO. I’m call cute! scary! cute! scary! I feel so torn.
Enough with the editorial comments. Just wallow in the perfection that is teh cute.
That woman is living my dream. Except in my dream, there are no bars separating me from the big kitty.
i am so crying
zombiest – Okay, I think we’re on the same page now. When I said ‘purr’ I meant ‘my kitty going Darth Vader while on my lap receiving cuddles’. So I am right that lions can’t do that. And you are right that they do short adorable purrs, which I according to my tour guide at the Exotic Feline Rescue Center, is called ‘chuffing’.
Purrs and chuffs all around.
(Also, if anyone is feeling all warm and cuddly and apt to give money to places that help lions, the Exotic Feline Rescue Center (http://www.exoticfelinerescuecenter.org/home.html) in Indiana is much closer than Columbia, and they could use yer monies. They rescue big cats from all over the US and Mexico, and they need a new van to transport them in…)
“Sigh no more Peeps
And be you blithe and bonny”
A hug from a lion would be an honor-y
And you may, someday, so dream on-ny
But I’ll settle for a hug from Sean Connery.
That was just way too cute.
Pyrit?
http://www.spamusement.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6653
Pyrit:
I love Sean C and CO fun
But I’d rather have a hug
from Viggo Mortensen.
Today is my birthday. This was a fantastic birthday present. Thank you!
Theo?
Coconut?
MamDawn – Yay for meltymen.
That kitteh just wants his chin and cheeks scratched, some lovin’, some huggin’ . . . Big sweety!
Elizabeth B.: Good idea!
Lindsay wildlife Museum in CA has a Mountain Lion that was kept as a “guard dog” in a junkyard. She was found on a two-foot chain. The guy keeping her hired a 9 year-old boy to watch his “pets” one day… The kid was smart enough to let his parents know. Someone had removed her claws really poorly, and her feet will forever be lumpy. The lion hug made me think of that and look at the lion’s paws… I wouldn’t ant to get that close, just in case!
Oh, here’s the museum’s website, but I’m not sure if they have anything beyond a picture or two of the lion: wildlife-museum.org
Ah, but Theo, nothing is better than the sheer satisfaction of a single, perfectly placed hand-thrown puddin splat.
(Tip toes closer, whistling innocently although rather off-key, one hand behind back.)
zombiest – Oh no, we raised Mals for about the first 12 years of my life… and hoooollleeeeee cow but they bark. It’s more of a growl-y bark, so sometimes it doesn’t sound like you would expect a “normal bark” to sound, but they bark to raise the dead if somebody they don’t know gets near THEIR human.
I trained one, Tuxedo, to howl when I asked him “What does a wolf say?”
I mean, it’s possible that we were raising and breeding a strain of super-weird mals, but all of ‘em were EXCEEDINGLY vocal.
So cute.
On top – I want a lion!!!
Kimby– Neat! I’ve only had contact with family’s/friends’ mals and huskies, and most of them were told about the no barking as a selling point, and in most cases it was true (though a few of the more enthusiastic howlers caused trouble with a neighbors). That you have so many barkers is interesting! Just out of curiosity, what are their temperaments like? The barking malamute I knew was kind of nervous and extremely hyperactive. Jittered away from new people for at least the first year of her life, but was into absolutely everything if you turned your back even briefly. Her old owner had to give her to a friend with more time to spend on her and farmland for her to run (and chase sheep, I hear
) in.
This makes me really happy! Yay!
just to make trouble-the lion looks like he may have been declawed.
My Maine Coon mix Buster was a brown tabby. When he was old we had to keep his butt shaved since he kept getting matted there and his arthritic hips made him grumpy about combing.
Full coat from the ribs forward-shaved from the ribs back, tail and legs unshaved. He looked like a lion.
Soxfan– The “Christian” lion video reminded me of Elsa too. The odd thing is that there is a brief shot in there of an older shirtless man who I am sure is George Adamson, husband of Joy A. who raised Elsa. Don’t know his connection to the rest of the scene– anybody get audio with that clip?
I am wary of people having such close contact with even “tame” big carnivores– if something spooks them and they hurt the person, even accidentally, it often ends badly for the animal. But yeah… who wouldn’t want to bury their face in that mane?
Lauo — I keep a fully-collapsible Teflon-coated ‘brella concealed on my person at all times. Though I suppose I am (moderately) happy to see you.
Hahaha! Great puddin’ cartoon, Teho!
And, Viggo gets my vote for huggable and I ain’t lion!
When Christian the lion recognizes his “guys” and runs to them I really did start crying.
Actually, ElizabethR, cougars (aka mountain lions) *are* technically “small cats” as they’re in the Felis family rather than the Pantheris one.
What a gorgeous video.
I believe it. My Maine Coon, Smoky, likes to jump on me (oof) when I’m in the recliner, then he sits smack down on my front, pushes his nose hard under my jaw, wraps his front paws around my neck, and purrs like a motorcycle. it took him a little while to warm up to me, but he’s my big fluff boy now for sure.
Lauri… I’m a rabid LOTR fan and I collect autographs from the actors. I’ve got Viggo, David Wenham, Billy Boyd and I just got Dominic Monaghan when I met him on my vacation in Hawaii. Wheee. It’s a balmy 25 here in Tulsa and I have a cat on my lap and 1 on my feet. When we sign off here we’re going to watch Two Towers.
What I like is that the lady who cares for the animals doesn’t allow visitors, so the animals can just live in peace.
The lion hug worries me a little bit, though. Trained response or not, it’s asking for trouble. It’s always best to err on the side of caution when dealing with wild animals, and especially those that are 400 pounds heavier than you are. (Don’t believe me? Ask Roy Horn.)
OHHHHH MY GOSH! that is sooooo cute!!!!!!!! he’s like a giant stuffed animal, awwwwwww.
Lion Snorgles!! He’s so sweet. I’m glad the poor baby will be able to live out his life in peace.
Oooohhhh, did someone mention Billy Boyd? What IS it about those Glaswegian boys?
[Fans self AGAIN.]
Sorry, pyrit. Seems I am easily distracted lately. Actually the truffles may have made it worse, what with the sugar rush and all.
MamaDawn, you wanna talk LOTR fan? Have you checked out my (actual, honest ta gawd) last name? (Hover over it and see…)
Cool name, Thalia, and beautiful art!
Do we get to compare how many times we’ve all read LOTR? I’ve lost count, but it has to be nearing 40 by now.
I have no freakin’ clue how many times I’ve read LOTR (or the Silmarillion for that matter). No idea. I do know the first time was in 3rd grade. I didn’t understand a word of it then, but I tried again in 6th grade and had rather better luck.
Thanks for the compliments on the art!
Sorry folks, I’m with Cory. Didn’t you read about that keeper at the SF zoo whose arm was ‘removed’ by a tiger she had known for years & years?
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/01/TATIANA.TMP
As one of the commenters on Fark said: “Well, that’s it then, right? I mean, my 5 pound kitty cat has a shiat day, and literally laid open my nose.”
Maggie – I work at the SF Zoo. Don’t believe everything you read – that keeper’s arm was not removed.
I’d like to propose a new Rule of Cuteness: “Cute is in the Eye of the Beholder.” It seems, lately, like almost every post has a commenter that claims that something is “not cute.” Now, we’re all gonna have our preferences: for me, cute has pretty much gotta be a mammal, and a rodent has gotta work pretty hard for an ‘awww’ from me. But there are obviously thousands with the taste and discernment to see the cute in a ferret, rat, iguana, or whatever when I can’t. Squee and let squee, I say.
I WANTS A LYERN!
It can run around my backyard & splash in my pool & curl up to sleep on my bed.
Fark had a thread about this. One Farker by the name of Calcasieu posted the following image:
http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/1676/lionkissbe8.jpg
There were other “I’m in ur…” variants posted in the thread, but that was the funniest.
Bob-
Squee and let squee!
I love it.
Aww..I know it’s one of those “Don’t try this at home” things, but the lion looks so huggable!
I used to have a plush lion just like that!
Tanya
Hey Zap, good eye re: George Adamson! I think that really is him. He did get involved with the documentary made about Christian, according to this -
http://kimbawlion.com/christian.htm
Bob for president.
Thalia – What Bob said, about it’s in the eye of the beholder. Sean Connery isn’t my generation. Too bad! Billy Boyd, Viggo are all yours. But Viggo told me personally he wants to run off with MamaDawn. Tonight. Don’t tell my friend, who has a life size Hildalgo movie promo cut-out of him IN HER OFFICE.
Mommy, I want a kitteh like thaaaat!!! X D
I have now watched that clip for the eleventh time today and I’m still weeping.
Bob – “Squee and let squee!” has my vote for the next CuteOverload t-shirt and/or bumpersticker slogan. Who’s with me?!
Oh.
….
…
Billy didn’t say anything about running off with me tonight, did he?
Aaaaah noooooo that’s just too cute!! I can’t take it!!! I wonder if I could trade my ragdoll for that lion…
Rosie – Yes, I can just imagine Billy saying your name, “(roll)Rrroooosie, a-weeell ye roon awee wit meee tooonit?”
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6755680264794687811
I’m a little late coming into this conversation. In the link to Christian’s reunion on Youtube, in the remarks someone provided the link to the whole documentary about Christian. It’s very good. There’s a George in most of it, so I’m sure it’s the George Adamson y’all are talking about. They also mention the Born Free lions a few times. The little snippet of the reunion is actually the end of the documentary. It’s a little sad in parts, but I loved it.
V’s Mama — fixed your link.
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