Taigan Safari Park allows tourists to get up close to its lions.
Really close up.
The facility in Crimea has posted a series of videos of lions climbing into open-air vehicles with visitors, cuddling with them and even licking them.
Yes, giant cat tongue licks.
And through it all people appear to be having a good time taking photos along the way.
The park has posted a number of videos of tourists hugging and petting its lions.
And visitors seem positively gleeful about it.
And easily forgetting these are no ordinary house cats.
It’s almost unbelievable.
But yet, here it is.
Not every encounter has ended so happily.
This is the same animal park where a woman said she was badly bitten by one of the lions after going into its enclosure in July.
Park owner, Oleg Zubkov, is known as somewhat of a “lion whisperer” for his remarkable ability to get so close to the facility’s many big cats.
He issued a statement alleging the woman who was injured had been drinking.
“There was no attack or torment of the tourist,” Zubkov wrote. “Apparently the young lion did not like the smell of alcohol”
He also said medical attention was sought right away.
Photos Taigan Safari Park/YouTube
