A man was simply having fun with some lions and was even drumming on the tummy of one of them. This in itself is already surprising, but the result was even better. Whilst the zookeeper is looking after the lioness, a leopard approaches behind him and starts to run in his direction. However,the tiger sees exactly what the leopard is trying to do and stops it in its tracks!
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A swift intervention
Was the tiger trying to protect the zookeeper from a leopard attack? Probably, except that it wasn’t just any tiger, or zookeeper, or even leopard! This occurrence was filmed in the Black Jaguar White Tiger Foundation’s sanctuary. In recent years, this Mexican-based organisation has been helping and collecting big cats that have been abused in circuses, zoos or illegally owned by private individuals.
Eduardio Serio, the man we see in the video, is the founder of this organisation. So far, he has saved more than 200 felines and they are all doing much better today. He has formed some close relationships with most of his tenants, including Atlan the Tigress and Dharma the Leopard. The latter was collected from a breeder who fed it with sweetened condensed milk, a diet that caused it to suffer severe malnutrition and stunted growth.
A leopard that likes to play
After being rescued and transferred to the sanctuary, Dharma is now a lot better and has a habit of climbing and jumping on anything or anyone in its path. Although the animal charging towards Eduardio may seem like an attack, that is not the case. It was merely trying to elicit a reaction.
