It’s like watching a giant cat play with a piece of string – with a chicken attached:
http://woodlandparkzblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/lion-lure-line.html
Lions sleep. A lot. But when not sleeping, their instinct is to stalk and hunt prey. To nurture those instincts and add some excitement to our lion exhibit—both for the lions and for visitors—our keepers recently experimented with the addition of an enrichment lure line. The lure line is basically a pully system stretching across the exhibit that allows the keepers to whiz a piece of meat or other tempting treat through the air, enticing the lions’ instincts and springing them into hunting action…
Mental Flowers 