The sight of a male lion rearing onto its back legs would leave most people quaking with fear.
But a kiss and cuddle with the friendly beast is all part of a day’s work for animal lover Ana Julia Torres.
In these amazing pictures she shares a loving embrace with an African lion which was rescued from a life of abuse.
Torres, 47, has an extraordinary relationship with the big cat, called Jupiter, whom she fed and nursed back to health after saving him from a travelling circus ten years ago.