As much as I love this premise, I wonder how possible it was that she was trying to just pick him up, bring him back to her den and raise him as one of her own.
Well, figuring that a lion judges the edibility of zebra by its helplessness, obliviousness, and immobility... this is more delicious than any real zebra could ever be even in theory. Some kinda magical hydrocephalic, succulent, plump yet undiseased baby zebra that doesn't know how to kick or run. Just inches away from the lion's face. Waving feebly.