Pumbaa trends on Twitter after man’s interaction with warthog goes horribly wrong

“Hakuna Matata” is a phrase being tossed around all over Twitter right now after one man’s unfortunate interaction with a warthog went viral on social media.

Animals and the internet go hand in hand. From ye olde days of ‘icanhazcheeseburger’ to the more recent ‘Owa Owa dog’ on TikTok, it’s clear that netizens are enamored with funny animals and all the hilarious situations they get themselves into.

One man’s interaction with a warthog is similarly taking the net by storm, although it’s a bit more of a hair-raising affair than a dog making funny noises on TikTok.

On October 12, the name of The Lion King’s ‘Pumbaa’ took off on Twitter, and it’s all thanks to one overly-friendly guy who saw a wild warthog walking up into his place of residence.

While it’s clear that wild animals are to be treated with respect and caution, the man filming the interaction appeared to think that warthogs are as friendly as the average golden retriever.

“Hello, boy!” he said to the approaching hog. “I wonder if we can pet him? Hi boy!”

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Unfortunately for this guy, though, his run-in with the warthog wasn’t a “no worries” ordeal. Almost as soon as the boar came within petting distance, it let out a loud grunt and charged toward him, prompting the man to retreat to higher ground and get out of the way of the charging hog.

“Help me!” The man cried. “Help!”

The near-instant regret the fellow was likely feeling has prompted the internet to poke fun at him all over social media. Loads of commenters have been chiming in with various jokes about the video, most of which reference The Lion King and even Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke.

It’s unclear exactly who is behind the viral video, but what is clear is that wild animals shouldn’t be treated like pets, as evidenced by this man’s hard life lesson on the attitude of warthogs.