A YOUNG Irish boy was understandably scared out of his boots after a tiger tried to pounce on him at Dublin Zoo.
Fortunately for the little lad, there was a giant pane of glass between him and the cat, but nonetheless, it looked a terrifying experience.
The boy's father captured the moment on video, which shows the tiger slowly stalking the boy when his back is turned.
After realising what was going on, the parents encourage the boy to stay put, as a game of 'Grandma's footstep's' played out between boy and beast, with the tiger freezing every time the lad, Sean, turns to look at him.
My son was on the menu in Dublin Zoo today #raar pic.twitter.com/stw2dHe93g
— RobC (@r0bc) December 22, 2019
Then suddenly, as soon as Sean turns his head, the tiger launches itself towards the glass, raising its massive paws, looking very much like it wanted to gobble the little boy up.
Sean, understandably, shrieks and runs away, with the big-cat hopelessly pawing away at the glass.
Sean's father posted the video to Twitter on Sunday and it's already garnered over 30,000 likes and almost 7,000 retweets.
"My son was on the menu in Dublin Zoo today #raar," he wrote.
One could be forgiven for thinking this goes to show how dangerous predators like tigers are, and while that may be true, given that the tiger's claws weren't out, it was likely just a bit of playfulness on the part of the stripy giant.
It's a cat's natural instinct to 'stalk', and all of them - whatever their size - will entertain themselves by playing the stalking game. It might be on unsuspecting humans, other cats, or prey they know they're unlikely to catch - such as lightening-quick birds.
