Male lions are known for their wild manes.

While it’s not luscious like the side sweeps and centre partings that Scar and Simba have in The Lion King, it’s definitely wild and has its own style.

Hence, when a lion in Guangzhou’s zoo started sporting a weird haircut, it  naturally went viral on the Chinese forums.

Mane Day, Mane Day

The lion honestly looks like someone put a bowl over its head and just went on a snipping spree.

It’s just… bizzare, to put it mildly. 

Needless to say, the Chinese netizens were crying tears of laughter as they viewed the posted images. 

Most of the netizens wondered what happened to the lion’s beautiful mane, because they swore that when they visited the zoo a month or two ago, it didn’t look like this. 

One commenter asked, “Who gave him haircut? His wife doesn’t have any eyes to look at him anymore”, with a crying emoji attached.

Below, another netizen jokes, “Hahahaha [it shows that] hairstyle is really important!”

Presumably, they were referring to this photo where the lioness is looking away and casually ignoring its mate.

Others wondered who had the guts to do this to the lion, and the first and only culprits they could point towards were the zookeepers.

But if it was the zookeepers, it also leads to some very important questions, which one netizen raises, “Is the lion too docile or are the zookeepers too courageous?”

They add that in order to achieve this effect, not only do you have to give it a haircut, but you also have blow and comb it out properly.

Now that you look at it… The mane does look voluminous and neat?

Zookeepers: It Was The Weather

Regardless of the jokes that the netizens were throwing about, the zookeepers were quick to deny it. 

In response to a Guandong media outlet, an employee at the zoo said that they would never be able to muster the guts to give a lion a haircut.

(They like their hands and heads where they are, thank you very much.)

Rather, the lion’s unnatural fringe came about because of the recent humidity, which caused its mane to droop down.

Since lions are part of the feline family, they tend to lick their paws and groom their own hair. It tends to “spike up” because of that.

However, weather conditions can cause their “hairstyle” to undergo changes, just like in the case of this lion. 

It’s pretty funny to see a lion have a bad hair day, but being king of the savannah, maybe it’s just setting a new trend. 

Featured Image: Xiao Hong Shu (我跑不动了)