Malkia the African Lion at the Lake Superior Zoo showed our camera some protective tendencies over her food.

Malkia was didn’t tear into the food from her enrichment activity right away, “She was really just watching us and eventually curling around to guard the food,” Zookeep Dan Johnson told The Lift. “That’s a behavior you would often see in the wild.”

She can also be seen rubbing her neck against the fence to mark her territory.