Moment a playful lion grabs safari truck's tow rope in its jaws

Tug of roar! Moment a playful lion grabs safari truck’s tow rope in its jaws and doesn’t want to let go

• Footage shows playful lion doing tug of war with tour guide in South Africa 
• Tour guide Jabulani Salinda, 49, filmed the footage at Baobab Ridge Game Lodge
• The lion grabbed the tow rope after the truck got stuck on November 18 

This is the crazy moment a tour guide played tug of war with a playful lion.

Tour guide Jabulani Salinda, 49, was leading a group through Baobab Ridge Game Lodge, South Africa, on November 18.

He was tipped off by a colleague that there were lions nearby so he moved his truck around.

But he got the jeep stuck in the ground and had to be towed free using the rope.

In a video that has been viewed more than 13,000 times online, the male lion grabs onto the tow rope before Mr Salinda can pull it back in.

It tugs persistently at the end while guests on the truck laugh in the background.   

As the truck begins to move, the lion keeps the rope in his mouth and appears to stagger slightly as he is pulled by it.

Tour guide Jabulani Salinda, 49, was leading a group through Baobab Ridge Game Lodge, South Africa, on November 18. A lion grabbed onto a tow rope Mr Salinda had been using and refused to let go

The determined lion will not give up, to the amusement of the guests on board and carries on holding the rope before it disappears. 

The tour guide said the lion eventually gave in when a group of females sauntered past and he decided to go hunting with them instead of playing.

 Mr Salinda, from Dumfries, South Africa, said: ‘It was funny for me because I didn’t think of it just as a lion playing with a rope, it was like a big cat playing with a toy. 

‘All of its characteristics at the time were like a house cat any family would love to have in the home. It was just interested in toying with the rope. 

‘I’ve been a tour guide for 19 years and I have never known a lion play like this before. ‘My guests were a bit concerned that the lion’s interest in the rope would bring him up closer to the jeep, but he wasn’t approaching with anger.

As the truck begins to move, the lion keeps the rope in his mouth and appears to stagger slightly as he is pulled by it

Mr Salinda said: ‘I don’t think it had ever happened to the lion before and his attention was fully on the rope and I calmed them down and we were all able to enjoy the moment. 

‘He was surprised by the rope but he just saw the opportunity to play with something new.

‘While we moved the rope around to the front of the vehicle instead I tried to move my jeep to a 45 degree angle and see if that helped, which meant I got myself out quickly.

‘Before I could pull the rope back in, it caught the eye of the lion. He wandered over and grabbed the end of it. He tried to pull the jeep back but couldn’t manage it. He then tried to wrap it around some trees to get stronger tension.’ 

Mr Salinda (pictured) said he found the encounter funny as he saw it as a big cat playing with a toy

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