Durban - A wandering group of young male lions were caught on video trying to enter a restaurant in the Pilanesberg Centre, in the North West province, giving tourists way more than they bargained for.
The Pilanesberg Centre is a food stop for people that have gone on a safari drive or who are visiting the area for the day.
Accordingly, one of the sales representatives, Sonja Lerm, shared the experience.
Lerm said it was exciting to watch but scary at the same time.
She said it wasn’t the first time lions visited the centre but was a rare experience to have them walk towards her.
She advised that should anyone find themselves in that situation, they should remain calm (though that would be easier said than done after watching Idris Elba in his latest movie, Beast).
“We had just walked into the centre from the parking lot and watched the lions play in the distance. There were already some staff inside and some guests who were making use of the facilities at the centre.
“On our way to open up the door, we noticed one of the young adult male lions walking right toward us. We hurried inside and closed the door, and moved away from the door.
“We were very excited but somewhat scared to see them from such a close distance as they stood right outside the door of the centre. I filmed some of the sightings, but we were quite frightened that the lion might attempt to come inside.
“After a while of standing at the door, peeking in through the glass, the young lion walked away, back to join the other lions where they were playing in the distance,” Lerm said.
Luckily, no animals or humans were injured during the incident. However, the lions did make away with some plastic goods, which they chewed on after leaving the Pilanesberg Centre.
IOL