The police have identified and arrested the woman who climbed into the lion enclosure at Bronx Zoo in New York City to taunt the beast.
The woman, who was identified as 32-year-old Myah Autry, has been charged with 2 counts of criminal trespass after entering the beast’s enclosure and making weird sounds and hand gestures in an attempt to get the animal’s attention.
Despite a deep trench preventing the lion from attacking her, the woman put herself in tremendous danger as things could easily spiral out of control if she slipped and fell down.
In addition, she put the animal’s well-being at risk, as the lion would probably get put down if it managed to get ahold of the woman.
The heart-stopping footage was shared on social media by an Instagram user known as Real Sobrino who couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the woman taunting the lion.
“Absolute idiot. What I’m upset about is if the lion did anything to her, he’d probably be put down. What a selfish and stupid thing to do,” one viewer commented after the video went viral.
“What an ignorant person. They would’ve shot the lion to save her dumb ass I’m glad the lion survived this idiot human behavior,” another one added.
Following the video going viral, Bronx Zoo spoke out to NBC News and called the incident “a serious violation and unlawful trespass.”
“This action was a serious violation and unlawful trespass that could have resulted in serious injury or death,” they wrote.
“Barriers and rules are in place to keep both visitors, staff and animals safe. We have a zero-tolerance policy on trespass and violation of barriers.”
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Replaced!