The man rescued this lioness when she was a few days old. Ten years passed but the animal still remembers her savior and thanks the man with a warm morning hug.

So the man made friends with the lioness. As the saying goes, love is a language spoken by both humans and animals.

The video of Valentin Gruener’s touching hug with his lioness went viral on the net and got a lot of likes.

@sirgathelioness Sirga doesn‘t understand the concept of social distancing. Luckily, she doesn‘t have to. #tiktokwildlifeday ♬ Oh No I Hope I Don’t Fall… – IndieHay

“Sirga is very friendly and caring. She got used to me and considers me her best friend. As a sign of our friendship, every morning she hugs me warmly and wishes me a good day. She also likes to rub her head against me like a normal house cat. Many people ask if I’m afraid of her. So the answer is that I trust her and she never showed aggression. And I have a lot of respect for her for that restraint,” Gruener said.

A human and the animal have initially met in 2012. Gruener found her when she was only a few days old. Being born in rehabilitation center she was rejected by her mom shortly after birth. Sirga was the only to survive in the litter. She was brought to the Modisa Wildlife Project – a wildlife conservation center co-founded by Gruener in Botswana. And at that time their unique friendship began.

“By her nature Sirga doesn’t look like a lioness at all. Being very gentle and friendly, she always hugs me like in that video,” Gruener said.