--- title: Baby Dressed as Lion Bonds With Real Lion at Zoo Atlanta description: This baby dressed up as a lion meeting an actual lion at the Zoo Atlanta is the cutest thing you'll see all day. canonical: https://time.com/4598100/baby-dressed-as-lion-bonds-with-real-lion/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-12T19:47:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:39:24.181Z og:title: Watch a Cute Baby in a Lion Costume Bond with a Real Lion og:description: Real recognize real og:url: https://time.com/4598100/baby-dressed-as-lion-bonds-with-real-lion/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb2eacfbbb358dc8/6988b2a3cd1bba7eaa7035f8/gettyimages-612281946.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5000 og:image:height: 2813 og:image:alt: A female Asiatic lion pictured at Madrid zoo. Two females of og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch a Cute Baby in a Lion Costume Bond with a Real Lion twitter:description: Real recognize real twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb2eacfbbb358dc8/6988b2a3cd1bba7eaa7035f8/gettyimages-612281946.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch This Adorable Baby in a Lion Costume Bond with a Real Lion at the Zoo > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Dec 12, 2016 7:47 PM UTC  ZOO AQUARIUM DE MADRID, MADRID, SPAIN - 2016/10/03: A female Asiatic lion pictured at Madrid zoo. Two females of Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) spend their first day at Madrid zoo. According to her keepers, they have adapted perfectly to their enclosure. (Photo by Jorge Sanz/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) ZOO AQUARIUM DE MADRID, MADRID, SPAIN - 2016/10/03: A female Asiatic lion pictured at Madrid zoo. Two females of Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) spend their first day at Madrid zoo. According to her keepers, they have adapted perfectly to their enclosure. (Photo by Jorge Sanz/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) Pacific Press-LightRocket via Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Dec 12, 2016 7:47 PM UTC It’s no big secret that [2016 has not been a year for the faint of heart](http://time.com/collection/top-10-list-2016/), but if you’re looking for something that will re-establish your faith in goodness while simultaneously giving you all the feelings, consider this heartwarming video of a tiny toddler dressed up like a lion while meeting [a real lion](http://time.com/4595537/will-smith-lion/) at the zoo. In a [clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH2H121T1Y4) posted by Cami Fanning, one can see her 11-month-old godson Aryeh (her video description says that this name means “lion” in Hebrew) bonding with one of the kings of the jungle, with plenty of mutual admiration shared between both the baby and the lion. At one point, Aryeh even puts his small hand on the glass pane separating the two of them, with the adult lion following suit with his paw. “The lions were immediately interested in our little lion cub, and it wasn’t long before they couldn’t stand their curiosity any longer and came right up to the glass,” Fanning wrote in the clip’s caption. “Aryeh was completely unfazed and interacted with the lions for a few minutes.” Watch above. \[[UPI](http://www.upi.com/Odd%5FNews/2016/12/12/Baby-in-lion-costume-bonds-with-real-lion-through-zoos-glass-wall/9901481553272/?spt=hs&or=on)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4598100/baby-dressed-as-lion-bonds-with-real-lion/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4598100/baby-dressed-as-lion-bonds-with-real-lion/"},"headline":"Watch This Adorable Baby in a Lion Costume Bond with a Real Lion at the Zoo","datePublished":"2016-12-12T19:47:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:39:24.181Z","description":"Real recognize real","url":"https://time.com/4598100/baby-dressed-as-lion-bonds-with-real-lion/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","animals","kids","Culture"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb2eacfbbb358dc8/6988b2a3cd1bba7eaa7035f8/gettyimages-612281946.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb2eacfbbb358dc8/6988b2a3cd1bba7eaa7035f8/gettyimages-612281946.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A female Asiatic lion pictured at Madrid zoo. 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