Kevin Richardson is an animal behaviorist who works on a wildlife reserve in South Africa. He’s integrated himself into a lion pride, which has led to some remarkable videos.
Now who wouldn’t want to disport himself with these giant kittehs, or fondle their cute little cubs? But, as Roy Horn (of Siegfried and Roy) learned, these animals are still wild. I fear Mr. Richardson’s days are numbered, but he doesn’t seem to care.
You can find more Lion Whisperer pictures and videos here, as well as on YouTube.
On a cuter note, this little guy opens his mouth to meow, but nothing comes out. The endearing “silent meow,” well known to ailurophiles, is one of the many tactics cats use in their continuing quest to pwn humanity.
h/t: Monica
“Can you believe what you see?”
Yes, I do in fact believe what I see in this video. And it is just so cool – a brilliant man who cracks the code of the lion’s evolutionary psychology, and now is permitted to be one of them. But, alas – some day, sooner or later as no one can say exactly when, we will see the Lion Whisperer again in another video. They will say: “Look! Can you believe what you see! Here is the amazing Lion Whisperer today!” – and there will be a foot in a boot over there, some fingers 50 yards away, and a few scattered ribs and other bones, all spread over a circle of stained grass a hundred yards in diameter. Because that’s all part of lion’s instinctive behavior too.
I don’t think that guy is really in any danger at all.
First, Roy of Siegfried & Roy was not attacked by their tiger. He was dragged by the neck by the tiger, as if he were a cub in danger. All that example shows is that if you want to interact with a huge powerful animal that looks on you as family, you should be young and fit so you don’t accidentally trigger a harmful “protection” response.
Perhaps more relevant would be citing the Grizzly Man, who certainly met a bad end after living for some time with grizzly bears. However, he wasn’t attacked by any of the bears that had become acclimated to him. It was a newcomer who probably couldn’t believe (in as much as bears are capable of such a thought) that all the other bears just left a big snack lying around like that.
In this case, this is a closed-in area, and no wild lion that sees the guy as a food item will just wander into the pride.
There are some seven billion people in the world. I can imagine worse things that feeding some of them to the lions.
Dummkatz didn’t react to Ethan Siegel’s hearing test, but this made him stop purring for some reason.
It reminds me of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiGKWoJi5qM
Very moving… but I fear a Timothy Treadwell (grizzleyman) repeat.
Me Lion. Me see convenient dinner when times is tough…