A loud roar rolled across the savannah. It seemed as though the earth itself trembled with his power. Any adult would have been frozen with fear in that moment. But the little girl, who had only just learned to crawl, didn’t understand that in front of her stood the king of beasts, and that her life could depend on a single movement.

For her, the lion was nothing more than a strange, big “toy.” She clapped her hands and tried to reach for his paw as if playing.