You can take the lion out of the wild, but you can't take the wild out of the lion. That's what visitors to a zoo in Amsterdam learned after a lion killed a heron right before their eyes.
Visitors to the Artis Royal Zoo in Amsterdam might have felt like they were watching a program on the Discovery Channel when a female lion in captivity showed her wild instincts and went on a hunt right in the exhibit.
A heron is seen sitting in the water of the exhibit when one of the lions runs up to it and catches it mid-air as if tries to escape in vain. The lioness quickly brings the bird to its mouth as another lion and a cub try to get in on the action.
The lioness proudly walks around the habitat with her catch while a cub tries to snatch it away from her. Eventually the lioness gives in to the young lion and the cub takes the dead bird back to their den.
The video was posted to YouTube in February 2012 and received 1,364,093 views. However the video was recently re-posted and it's starting to catch attention again. A description of the recent video reads, "This Dutch family was visiting the zoo on a quiet Sunday afternoon when things got a bit more exciting than seeing bored animals lying around their enclosures. A lion spots a heron near the water. Following her instincts she sneaks up on it and manages to grab it. The whole family wants in on the prize, but a sneaky cub gets away with it."
It is not clear if the lions in captivity are regularly fed live prey or if they are given already dead meat, but the lions in this video show that they haven't lost their instincts.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
