Photo: Screenshot from Sina WeiBo

A video showing a lion cub strolling freely in a shopping mall in a Shijiazhuang, North China's Hebei Province went viral, sparking safety concerns among netizens. 

On Friday, a netizen shared the video online of a young, seemingly unrestrained lion roaming through the BG Future City shopping mall in Shijiazhuang. It then quickly ran between floors. Not far away, a woman was watching from her position.

The lion appeared in the mall for a temporary shooting of a commercial video and was supervised by a zookeeper with none injured, said the shopping mall authorities.

Another video circulating on the internet showed a man believed to be the animal's keeper had interacted with the young lion, after it appeared that the cub had already shown signs of biting someone.

After the videos went viral, some netizens jokingly commented that Simba had visited the mall, making a reference to the famous Lion King character. Other netizens, however, voiced concerns and questioned the rationality and safety of keeping a lion in the mall.

The lion was allowed to saunter in the mall for the purpose of shooting a commercial video, a mall shopkeeper told media on Monday morning. Animal handlers were on site to ensure that the lion would not pose a threat to customers, according to the shopkeeper. 

The shopkeeper added that the lion cub is just three months old and lives at ta zoo, which began operation on July 13, in the BG Future City shopping mall.

Citing a mall employee, media reported that the lion was freed from the venue out of business hours when there were no customers. According to the employee, the cub was escorted by professionals to guarantee safety of all nearby.

In addition, the employee noted that they appreciated customers' concerns for safety reasons.

The employee added that there is a barrier separating the public and the lions during regular business hours. Customers will also need to be under staff supervision if they want to feed them closely, according to media.

The staff member also told media that they will not permit lions to freely stroll throughout the mall in the future.

Global Times