In this video, a fully-grown lion lurks nearby waiting to pounce, leaps onto a man's shoulders, and gnaws on the sleeve of his sweat shirt. Her front paws are as big as his head.

But she's only playing. You see, Sirga was abandoned by her lion pride when she was just a cub. Conservationists Valentin Gruener and Mikkel Legarth rescued her and raised her to to adulthood, and she owes them a big debt of gratitude.  

The two men founded Modisa Wildlife Project in Botswana, Africa to help prevent the lion population from dying out. They discovered a starving Sirga and knew they had to help her. She had been part of a three-cub litter and two of her siblings had already died.

27-year-old Gruener fed her with a special formula to help the little lioness gain weight and get proper nutrition.

Today, Sirga is approximately 250 pounds and eats raw meat. Both Gruener and Legarth are working to introduce her back into the wild. The fearless pair train Sirga to hunt - something her pride would have done. Gruener spends hours teaching her to stalk and kill prey.

"We didn't want Sirga to become like other lions in captivity, constantly fed by streams of tourists,' says Mikkel. "She hunts her own food, taking antelopes, and she will let us be near her when she eats it, which is remarkable.

"We want to release her eventually as a wild lion, not as one who has met lots of people. That would be dangerous. She only interacts with me and Valentin."

Sirga is an affectionate lioness. She's always wrapping her "dads" in big hugs, playfully chewing on their clothing, and pretend-pouncing on them. Because she's just playing, she never uses her claws or bites hard.

You have to see the video to believe it.

Would you be as comfortable as these guys with a grown lion? Tell us what you think!