Lions have good PR officers. They tend to get put in the best places and are mythically protrayed as being much cooler than they really are. Just think about the four huge lions around Nelson in Trafalgar Square in London. Obviously great PR work. Nelson was a sailor and he still gets surrounded by four of the biggest lions ever.
Unfortunately there is a downside to great PR and that is that reality eventually creeps up. But somehow this does not happen to the lions. Not long ago, the Lion steps were unveiled in G̦teborg. Two large, blas̩ lions lay overlooking the main canal in G̦teborg. There air of aloofness and boredom is brilliant Рthese are not fierce wild beasts, they are city lions. Cool detached and above and beyond mere mortals that surround them.
Among lion statues there is a whole subset of the reclining lion but it is not very often that you come across a lion who is asleep. But of all the statues of lions my favorite is the sleeping lion guarding the tomb of George Wombwell, menagerist, buried at Highgate Cemetery in London. This lion is said to portray his favourite pet lion. To have the statue sleeping peacefully is a beautiful symbol. So peaceful.
But wherever did they get such good PR people?