Face-to-face with fear: Watch man and lion’s hilarious, panicked retreat in Gujarat

In a startling and surreal encounter, a man and a lion found themselves face-to-face in the heart of Gujarat’s Junagadh district.

The unexpected meeting, captured on camera, led to a moment of mutual panic as both predator and human, momentarily stunned, turned and fled in opposite directions.

The video was shared by Indian forest officer Susanta Nanda.

The incident occurred around 10 PM outside the Aadhar Cement Factory in Patapur village, Dungarpur, Gujarat’s Junagadh district. A factory staffer, thinking it was just another mundane walk out the gate, came face-to-face with a full-grown lion—who, by the looks of it, seemed equally shocked to see a human casually step into its path.

Startled, he sprinted back towards the premises, while the lion, equally alarmed, dashed towards the nearby forest.

Worker of the cement factory at Junagarh & a free roaming lion accidentally meet each other. Both panic.

You have just witnessed the rare reverse chase 😀 pic.twitter.com/W4ps2NJl0S

— Susanta Nanda IFS (Retd) (@susantananda3) August 10, 2025

This bizarre standoff highlights the unpredictable nature of wildlife encounters and the raw, instinctual reactions that kick in when worlds collide.

What happened next in the extraordinarily face-off is a testament to the surprising ways life can unfold when the wild and the human worlds unexpectedly intersect.

The netizens had hilarious reactions to the viral video.

One user commented, "Lion: Human! Run!!! Human: Lion! Run!!!😂😂😂."

Another said, "Me. Walking towards my mirror," while a third posted, "Moth ko chuukar nikla😂😂."