Giant panda Mei Xiang discovers a birthday cake meant for her cub Bei Bei (NP) who turns one at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC on August 20, 2016. (Photo by Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)

National Geographic photographer Steve Winter has spent most of his adult life shooting wild cats. Photo: A 14-month-old cub, cooling off in a pond, is riveted by a deer that appeared near the shore. Tigers are powerful swimmers; they can easily cross rivers four to five miles wide and have been known to swim distances of up to 18 miles. (Photo by Steve Winter/National Geographic)

A one-month-old wolf cub ululate as zookeeper Luo Yong plays guitar at the Chongqing Yongchuan Safari Park on March 27, 2008 in Chongqing, China. Luo has worked as a keeper in the wolf zone of the park after he graduated university. Luo has developed a special way to communicate with the wolves by trying to imitate the noises they make. He also teaches wolf cubs to ululate and some wolves will howl along when he plays guitar. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

A lion statue that sits outside the New York Public Library building wears a mask in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., September 28, 2020. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

Martin Lacey Jr. with a lion during the premiere of the Circus Krone program “Circus der Preistraeger” at Circus Krone on February 2, 2016 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Hannes Magerstaedt/Getty Images)

The 18th Annual Buda County Fair and Weiner Dog Races was held at city park in Buda Sunday April 26, 2015 sponsored by the Lions Club. (Photo by Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman)

A child and any Asiatic Lion look at each other through a glass at Rome's Zoo, Thursday, March 7, 2024. (Photo by Gregorio Borgia/AP Photo)

A woman dressed as the Wizard of Oz’s Dorothy walks her dog dressed as the Cowardly Lion as they attend the annual Congressional Dog Costume Parade on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on October 27, 2021. (Photo by Jim Watson/AFP Photo)