Parents speak out about lion vs. baby viral video

UNDATED (WHDH) -- A small child apparently looked like a meal to a lioness. And people couldn't get enough of the video 7News showed of the hungry lion and the oblivious baby.

The baby's parents are talking about their day at the zoo with the Today Show and what went through their minds when that lion got "hungry eyes."

Thanks to a couple of inches of heavy glass, little Jack Baltzor's parents and siblings could laugh off what otherwise looks like a frightening encounter.

Kya the lioness at the Portland Zoo did everything she could to get to the 13-month-old and make him a mouthful.

On the Today Show Jack's parents said they were never worried.

"We trusted the zoo had an engineer properly make the enclosure, so that doesn’t worry us at all. No. If we thought he was going to be injured at any point we wouldn’t have taken him there,” Jack’s father said.

Jack didn't seem too worried either, hardly noticing Kya trying to get to him. And when Jack did look up, the baby and the lion just sized each other up and then moved on.

Others paid attention though; since the family posted the video on the Internet it's gone viral.

"We just thought it was a funny video we were going to share with our family, and now it’s everywhere,” Jack’s mother said.

No one can say for show why this lion got so pumped about Jack, but some have speculated Jack's striped sweatshirt there makes him look a bit like a tasty zebra bite.

Jack did have other encounters that day with a jaguar and an alligator, but none of them seemed as interested in the youngster as the frustrated lady lion.

Jack’s parents say he likes the cat he has at home, and that he's an animal person. But they admit this close encounter was over the top.