Anyone that has ever owned a house cat should know better than getting in the cage with any large cat.
Cats are given to random playful roughousing that is bad enough for a 10 pounder. They don’t know where to draw the line.
Its not likely that the lion intended to kill; they play rough with their own cubs too.
YOU are exactly right. That’s why we sleep with our bedroom door LOCKED...to keep our 13 lb cat at bay...He can be VERY mean...and I could just see him going for a jugular in the middle of the night...just for the fun of it!