Michael Howes claims his job is "no more dangerous than driving a car."
"If you make a mistake driving a car, is it going to be a slight accident or a life-changing accident?" asks the 49-year-old Englishman. "It all comes down to the mistakes you make."
Just five minutes earlier, Howes was shut in a cage with eight fully grown lions. At various points during his 20-minute performance, he coaxed the beasts onto pedestals and balance beams, commanded them to jump over each other and bent down to hug and stroke them.