Tourist Photo Op With A Lion Turns Into A Wrestling Match!

Ted Papastefan deals with some savage customers in his job as a Chicago grocery store manager, but they’re nothing like the wild animal he encountered on a recent vacation. Papastefan, 43, and his wife, Sophie, traveled to South Africa and came home with an incredible story that would be hard to believe if there weren't pictures to prove it. Ted Papastefan and the lion mid-cuddle. It happened at the Bagamoya Wildlife Estate, in Maselspoort, South Africa, an animal sanctuary. Papastefan wanted some good photos, but when he entered the sanctuary, he said a 19-month-old lion “came charging toward” him. Instead of being terrified, the excited Papastefan said, “I could tell the animal just wanted to play.” Papastefan walked away with a handful of cuts, bruises and puncture wounds. “So I ran toward him,” he added, “we collided and then started wrestling.”