king of the forest

The animal is known in the Scandinavian country as "King of the Forest".

The essay, titled “The King of the Forest,” which was a family nickname for his father, described an adventurous soul who routinely tried mountain climbing, cliff diving, even an expedition to hunt polar bears.

A New Zealand newspaper ran an article called "A lion at large in Birmingham: How the King of the Forest was recaptured" which included details such as "the keeper's attention was momentarily distracted by a fight between an ostrich and a deer" and "a group of children were in the lion's path. It cleared them at a bound".

“It’s the king of the forest, indeed,” Murphy said as he described how the tree has survived more than two centuries of disturbances: buildings being built and torn down, parking lots being paved, roots being cut as pipes and foundations were installed.

"It's easy after the fact to say: 'If I were king of the forest, I would never have let these two guys out,'" said Jeffrey Butts, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York who studies the effectiveness of criminal justice programs.