You’ll Be Moved Seeing the Hug This Teacher Received…from a Lioness

It’s difficult to know exactly what goes on in the mind of an animal, but every once in a while, a moment like this is captured on film that truly makes one consider whether even the most savage of creatures can have emotions.

Valentin Gruener is a teacher who currently lives in Seoul, South Korea. During a visit to the Modisa Wildlife Project in Botswana, he formed a very special bond with the lioness seen in this video. Gruener helped raise her from being a lion cub, right up until this release from her enclosure.

Sure, it would probably terrify the average person to have one of these predators pounce on them like that, but there’s still something so beautiful and touching about seeing the bond shared between man and beast.

For the purposes of sharing a nice moment, I’ll refrain from saying anything about Roy Horn or the Grizzly Man…because this is pretty cool to look at.