I suppose it depends on how you define rage-baiting. I think she's definitely trying to make a point, but I don't know that she's trying to make people angry so much as trying to get people to engage. Engagement is not inherently about anger and hatred, and depending on the actual content of the article (I noticed you didn't mention anything about it so I assume, like me, you didn't feel like googling it) it could be more about talking about her own experiences and why she might be more comfortable with a wild animal rather than a random strange man.

Your own response seems to be exactly why she'd write the article. Rather than being interested in engaging on the topic, you've already made up your mind based on the barest possible metrics.