Video: Lioness hungry for boy in black-and-white zebra stripes

A toddler in black-and-white stripes sat innocently, oblivious to danger, as a lioness pawed and strained against the protective glass that separated her from the boy in an Oregon zoo.

The lion probably thought the boy was a Zebra, but the boy hardly gave attention to the hungry beast as it pawed desperately at the glass partition, baring its fangs and attempting to catch the boy in its jaws. The boy named Jack, had his back turned to the lioness called Kya most of the time. The hungry beast, frustrated at the nonchalance of its prey, and puzzled by the invisible "force-shield" separating it from the strange looking but hopefully tasteful "zebra," continued attempting to lunge at the boy from behind the glass, even standing on its hind feet to claw at it. We hear the boys parents, confident that the glass partition was safe, laughing and giggling at the big cat's futile efforts and urging the toddler to say "hello" to "kitty kitty." Fox12 reports the boy's mother Heather, said: "I thought it was funny. I wasn't worried or anything. I mean you can see the glass is like inches thick." Workers at the zoo told Fox12 tongue-in-cheek, that the lions have always shown interest in their young visitors. They emphasized, however, that the glass partition was completely safe. Fox12 reports that the lioness Kya, who is four years old and weighs 250 lbs, was brought from Wisconsin's Racine Zoo to join another female and a male lion in the zoo's Predators of Serengeti exhibit in 2009.