It looks like “play dead” just saved a wild dog’s life.

Footage from Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe shows an African painted dog delivering an award-worthy performance in the role of dead canine as it was carried around in the mouth of a lioness.

Kruger Sightings said the dog was part of a pack feasting on a dead kudu as the lioness crept up on them.

“In the flash of a moment, she pounced and managed to grab one of the dogs,” the company said in its description on YouTube.

The dog went limp in the mouth of the lioness. As the footage shows, she carried it around for some time, and the dog didn’t budge.

Kruger Sightings wrote:

When another member of the pack approached the lioness, she sprang into action, attacking the other wild dog ferociously. Then, to the surprise of everyone watching, the previously caught wild dog got up and was able to make his escape.

Both dogs escaped the lioness: