Sorry but I am going to disagree, I do not accept that lions are that afraid of humans, you can go on utube and see lions not frightened of the human voice or presence. I have put a few up trees and they were not trembling in fear or urinating in fear. I have a friend whom has seen 3 in his high fenced yard, kills within 100 yards of his house. Defense of a kill is documented on people, a dog I had was attacked on a kill. 
They often watch people from close range, undetected, like many wild animals. What your kitty does outside is what lions do, I have followed their tracks for miles, very clever hunters.
 On PWI I have seen deer bedded within 30 or 40 feet of my vehicle when I arrived and were still there when I came back.
Try tracking an animal in falling snow and find out how smart they really are. On my game cams coyotes picked up the noise of the camera and the next frame were hightailing it out of there, deer will get right in the lens, elk will move the camera.