South Africa's 'Lion Whisperer'
Johannesburg 2007 - A South African has made his affinity for animals his life. But the animals Kevin Richardson works with are amongst the largest and most dangerous predators known to man – lions, leopards, cheetahs and hyenas.
Kevin is an animal behaviourist and physiologist based at the Lion Park in Lanseria, just outside Johannesburg, which has been a conservation landmark for the last 40 years. He spends every waking moment with his ‘buddies’ as he affectionately calls them, most of which he hand-reared himself.
Kevin has loved animals since early childhood and dreamed of becoming a vet one day.
“Already as a kid, I had my whole life planned,” he says. “I was going to be a successful vet, make lots of money and retire at 30. But I didn’t get into vet school and I was horrified! How could they not accept a guy who loved animals as much as I did? But this eventually led me down a different path for which I’m grateful today.”He went on to complete a BSc (with zoology and physiology) and began to work with humans in the field of pre- and post-operative rehabilitation. It was during this time that Kevin became friendly with one of his patients, Ian Melass, over their shared love for animals. About two years later, in 1997, Ian bought the Lion Park and invited Kevin to spend time with the animals.
“At first I’d work half-days with humans and the other half with animals, but soon the animals won and I became a full-time fixture at the Lion Park,” he says. His first ‘adoptees’ were a pair of six-month-old lions, who were brothers, called Tau (which means ‘lion’ in Zulu) and Napoleon.
When asked how he developed his talent to communicate with predators, especially lions, Kevin explains, “Talent comes from passion and when you are passionate about something, you excel at it. But the number one method I use is a combination of love, understanding and respect –unconditional love when it comes to lions. I also use the five senses because like humans, animals respond to touch, to the sound of your voice and to the things that they like. I communicate differently with each species, and treat each animal as an individual – just as we humans do each other.”
Comments Ian, “Believe me, it’s one in a million to have that ability – to have that love and also that nerve. Kevin has the guts to pick up a brown hyena. A brown hyena can bite through thick steel. But Kevin will pick it up and talk to it for a while. I couldn’t do that, and I wouldn’t want to do that!”
Predators, which are rescued and then released, or hand-reared and released are sadly often killed by their own, hence the need for conservation areas like the Lion Park, which also looks after rare species like the white lion. “It’s very important to keep the animals happy when you have them in captivity,” says Ian. “And one of the aspects of enriching their lives is training them and working very closely with them. So that’s Kevin’s role.”
Literally living with the animals for the last 10 years, experiencing them first-hand, has taught him things about them that can’t be found in books. He knows their personalities, their every quirk, preference and mood, and respects their limits in terms of the closeness they’ll allow. “What’s also important is that with all the animals, I’m near the top of the pecking order. You’ve got to be near the top. The moment they see you as a lower-order figure, they will challenge you more often.”
Kevin’s unique training and interaction methods have earned him such trust amongst his ‘students’ that he is able to sleep and swim with lions and hold newborn hyenas without being attacked. This is unheard of in the field of wild animal handling.
“I often get calls from people wanting to play with the lions after they’ve heard of what I do. But it’s a misconception that if the lions are tame, they are not dangerous,” Kevin says. “Although predators that have been hand-reared engage with humans, their instincts can’t be ‘unlearnt’ and they will always be fundamentally wild and unpredictable. It’s important for people to understand that.”
Hence, he relies heavily on his own instincts to gauge an animal or situation, and will not approach a creature if something doesn’t feel right. “You can never be too confident. Lions and leopards have been known to turn on their human ‘friends’ for no apparent reason, so the element of danger is always there.”
Kevin learnt a valuable lesson in his early days after one close call with a lion, which he attributes to inexperience and miscalculation. “I was still feeling my way with the animals when this lion, about four years old named Savo, was brought in. I had not reared him and knew very little about him, but I felt sorry for him. I went in the enclosure, but on this particular day, I was feeling uneasy. He looked at me like he’d never looked at me before and suddenly he ran at me.
"He then reared up on his hind legs and smacked me across the face, causing a nosebleed. I submitted to him immediately and lay on my back. He pinned me down on the ground and started to bite me in various places, but the bites were interesting… he would apply pressure and see how I was reacting. I started pushing his skin in his mouth so he was actually biting down on his own flesh and he eventually saw he was not getting anywhere, so he just stood above me.”
After this incident, Kevin realised that trying to make friends with a wild, adult lion that he didn’t know was asking for trouble. Now his cut-off age is 10 months to a year, where it is still possible to accustom a lion to humans. However, he is quick to point out that all predators are different and tells the story of a wild adult hyena that was brought to the Lion Park, which he managed to tame until she actually licked his hand.
Kevin uses his talent predominantly for conservation and dispelling myths and negative perceptions about lions and hyenas. He wants people to know that they do actually show feelings, have their own characters and are able to develop a special bond with man. And as part of educating the public, Kevin has been making documentaries in which he is recording as much of the animals’ behaviour as possible.
The predators that Kevin works closely with – a select group of about 10 that he is able to ‘trust’ – are intended to be ambassadors of their species for the visitors to the Lion Park. And close to his heart is educating children about conservation, especially those from disadvantaged communities. “Youngsters should be made aware of the need for conservation as early on as possible. But usually they only get to see animals in zoos and it’s difficult for them to relate to them or to be inspired to conserve them. At the Lion Park, the kids can experience all the predators up close and watch me interact with them. Seeing their playful natures and their beauty, without the barrier of cages, helps them relate to the animals on a different and much deeper level. This encourages them to love the animals and want to protect them.”
Kevin confirms that he is involved in a new conservation project called the Kingdom of the White Lion, which should be open to the public in the first quarter of 2008. It will be situated halfway between the Lion Park and Hartbeespoort Dam in the North West province, and will focus exclusively on the preservation of the white lion – a species only recently been brought back from the brink of extinction.
Lion Park contact details:
Tel: 0861 LION 00 / 0861 546 600
Email: lionpark@cknet.co.za
