The giant cat creeps in his direction as the man opens his arm with a welcome smile.
But he recoils in shock as the lion jumps up towards him with its claws out.
The carnivore’s paws wrap around the trainer’s face as he tumbles to the ground with the heft of the huge cat on top of him.
As the man rolls onto his side, the lion the grabs his leg and sinks its teeth into his thigh.
Fortunately trainer Eduardo Serio was wearing protective padding and is used to the vicious rough and tumble with the lioness, who is called Kiara and recently celebrated her third birthday.
Eduardo – originally from Mexico – runs The Black Jaguar-White Tiger Foundation which has rescued and cares for over 240 large felines including jaguars, tigers, leopards, lynxes, lions and pumas.
But despite the tussling pair’s playtime enjoyment, many of the 300,000 viewers watching the clip found it worrying.
One Instagram user wrote: “Woah. Look at how rough they play. That’s the femoral artery it bit right there.”
Another commented: “Dangerous. Ouch.
And a third added: “Letting a massive carnivore knock you over and bite you? No thanks.”
Another less experienced man received a shock recently when he annoyed a lion while on a safari.
After trailing the huge cat for several yards, the ferocious beast gave him a huge scare by confronting him.
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