A male lion with dry tangled hair that earned him the nickname "beggar lion" has gone viral after refusing to bathe.

Video shows the eight-year-old African lion, named Zhuannian, with a mane clumped together and streaked with grey-green hues as it paces inside its enclosure at Qianling Mountain Zoo in Guiyang, Guizhou Province, China, on 21st August.

Keepers said he had resisted every attempt to wash him for the past two years, even baring his teeth at water jets.

They explained that after any forced cleaning he rolled in the mud to undo it, once smashing three high-pressure water gun nozzles with his paws.

Zoo staff said the lion’s enclosure is located in a humid forest where conditions make tangling worse.

They added that rolling in sand and mud baths is a natural way for lions to ward off insects.

The zoo published a medical report showing that the lion’s weight, temperature, and parasite levels were normal.

Picture shows the lion at the Guiyang Zoo, China, undated. He reportedly refused to bath. Note: Image is a screenshot from video. (AsiaWire/NX)

Veterinary experts said that wild lions rarely bathe and that tangled manes are natural and do not affect health.

Zoo officials are now trying different measures to manage the problem, including low-pressure hoses, planting thorny plants for natural grooming, and using peppermint-scented enrichment to encourage rubbing against tree trunks.

The story attracted more than 20 million views on Douyin under the hashtag #GuiyangBeggarLion and sparked a wave of memes and jokes comparing him to a "wild version of the Golden Lion King."

Visitor numbers rose by 300 per cent on 23rd August as crowds arrived to see the internet-famous lion.

(Mike Leidig / newsX)