South African Ranger! Incredible (pics)

it looks like he just photoshopped himself into some of these. he overdoes the poses.

Originally posted by murphyhurtme
it looks like he just photoshopped himself into some of these. he overdoes the poses.

WTF? A poster has already confirmed this to be true bc he lives in south africa....read the posts dude you are in a FORUM!

All BS aside this is one the most amazing pics i have ever seen. im not all that surprised by it tho, as Noah apparently got along with animals when he sailed the ark...its cool to finally witness the harmony i must say.

I am seriously jealous too!!! you kno how many girls would be all over me if i had a pet lion? haha! word.

reply to post by timewalker


I wish those Hyena's ripped those idiots apart. Scum of the earth ensalving them like that.

And the pictures on that link are truly remarkable, as others have said i have never seen a shot of an hyena and human sitting with each other before.

Then again we have seen humans do this before with bears and they wind up mauled to death.
Time will tell...

Still having such a trustworthy ability is amazing, my grandfather can do that with Wolves and only wolves, our second name is also derived from the Irish name for a wolf, in a long winded way. Wolves are my favourite animal and according to a psychic my spirit guide should i seek it is a wolf.

Whenever i go past their exhibit in zoo(when i ge the chance) they come over face to the glass and my face to their's with a paw on the glass so i palce my hand where the paw is, i wonder if humans have a bond with certain animals naturally?

Things like this are so inspiring.
S&F

Even though this guy is not a ranger he certainly does perform marvels. He hand rears these lions and over the time he spends with them they create a bond of trust and understanding with each other.

Everytime I see these photos I am left with such enormous compassion for all of nature, truely brilliant.

reply to post by Zedd31415


Exactly!!!!!! They aren't wild. They are captive animals reared from brith. HUGE difference.

I feel sorry for all the people talking crap about the pics being fake or the guy trying to be like Steve. Just because you can't do it or don't have the balls to do it, don't down play other people's achievements. There are other things in this planet besides cynicism, ignorance, fear, stupidity, conspiracies, government plots to rule the world, etc.

What you're seeing here is something that has been lost for thousands of years, the interaction between humans and animals at a sincere level. There 's nothing more pure than what this guy is doing. Taking away the man made concept of superior being versus dumb animal. This is purity at it's finest level. This guy has achieved a level of harmony with other beings of our planet that some of us only dream of and will never achieve. Why take that way from him? What does that bring you? Do you feel better now that you've criticized his pictures, his behavior and, his choice? Get real!!!!

This is, of course, is my opinion.

Or maybe you rather this type of man/animal interaction:

www.livevideo.com...

In which case you should be hung by your balls of the rooftop of a skyrise and let there to rot. Again, my humble opinion!

Brilliant pics and must be an exhilarating experience, but as others have said he can get mauled to death at any second no matter how much these pics show a somewhat mutual trust/relationship. Admire his work in regards to stopping poaching but this guy is just asking for this throat to be ripped out every time he gets so close to them. And i for one don't see what he is trying to prove or achieve by doing so. And while being captive lessens the chance of him being attacked you are still walking a very fine line.

[edit on 9-3-2010 by Solomons]

I looked at these pics early this morning and just had to come back to check them out again and leave a post.

It's kinda terrifying and amazing, the size difference between the animals and the guy. I'd totally get my head ripped off if I came close to those felines.

Wild animals or captive, it still takes guts to get close to those monsters. Anything could go wrong.

The one with them in the lake at the bottom is so cute.

Thank you OP for the amazing pictures.. I cant tell you how much overwhelmed I am after seeing them. I went to the guy's website and this is his twitter id : @lionkevin
If anyone wants to add him. S&F.

reply to post by solarstorm


although this guy is amazing and i have seen his videos so many times , but you have to be amazed by Dave Salmoni on animal planet living with them in the wild.

www.dave-salmoni.com...

and here you can watch some of his videos on animal discovery,and make sure you watch the first video my favorite lol it's called Cleo Challenges Dave.

animal.discovery.com...

have fun

and by the way S&F

He'll get mauled eventually.

Don't worry.

Originally posted by UnKnown MrT
What you're seeing here is something that has been lost for thousands of years, the interaction between humans and animals at a sincere level. There 's nothing more pure than what this guy is doing. Taking away the man made concept of superior being versus dumb animal. This is purity at it's finest level. This guy has achieved a level of harmony with other beings of our planet that some of us only dream of and will never achieve. Why take that way from him? What does that bring you? Do you feel better now that you've criticized his pictures, his behavior and, his choice? Get real!!!!

I doubt very much that the first humans really appreciated the "harmony" and "purity" of their relationship with apex predators. I can only imagine what the other cavemen would say to you if you told them that you had a special bond with the smilodon down the block.

This is really cool. I once saw this documentary on either NatGeo, or Animal Planet, and it showed a couple of guys who raised some lions and they got too big to keep at their store anymore so they took them to Africa and let them slowly adapt to the wild life again. After a year they came back and the lions remembered them, the experts said that they should expect to get attacked, but they played with them just like the guy in this picture does with these lions. It was really amazing.

There is a lot about wild animals, or actually animals altogether, that we just don't understand yet - and we may never.

S&F thanks for sharing.

Oh Wow!!

This is just... Wow...

Those pictures are amazing. The funniest being the 2nd last where he is in the water!

Damn, people like this really have trust between them and animals. Wow, I'm seriously amazed..

Only Wow comes out of my mouth right now!!

Originally posted by GorehoundLarry
He'll get mauled eventually.

Don't worry.

Yeah that dude is gonna be tiger food soon.

He calls it licking, I say tasting.

Originally posted by NotAgain
reply to post by Asktheanimals

 

The only wild animals I see is Humanity, I don't see Lions killing each-other on a huge scale. Or implementing years of suffering on one another, you sound like a hunter or something.....

I'm glad you recognize man as an animal, many people don;t even think we're part of nature.
Lions kill each other quite frequently, males will kill cubs that aren't their own progeny. Infanticide is common in the animal kingdom.
I am a hunter and I take that as a compliment since ALL aboriginal peoples hunt. I'm also gardener and nature lover who worked as a volunteer for years in a nature center rehabilitating wild animals.
Trying to make wild animals look all cuddly and cute is defintely ludicrous, not to mention dangerous.
Nature is a harsh mistress my friend. What those pictures represent is some type of Rousseau-esque garden of eden that never has or will exist.
You sound like...............nah, I don't do that.

PS - I don't agree with Trophy hunting, or hunting purely for "sport"

reply to post by Asktheanimals


Brilliant response, i think too many people have some sort of romantic fantasy about this subject that is completely devoid of reality. Like you said mother nature can be an unforgiving and harsh lady, no room for good or bad..she simply is.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


Just good target practice I suppose.

Look nobody is saying go cuddle a Lion, we are simply just amazed the the connection this guy has made with something that would normally eat him. The lion obviously remember who did and didn't shoot at his brothers and sisters.

If you don't like Lions, Don't post in a Topic about Lions....

As people have said he will probably end up getting shanked by one, and he probably wouldn't mind "Other than the pain" it's probably how he wants to die anyway. Just like the dude who got his head bit off by a Grisly Bear....

At least this guy has the balls to go up to a Lion without a Gun/Knife/Spear.

The pictures are remarkable. Animals can sense things about people. IMHO this is why Native Americas have more sucess in sighting bigfoot. They call him "Brother."
The lions seem to accept this guy as one of the pride. Hope they continue to do so.

Originally posted by UnKnown MrT

What you're seeing here is something that has been lost for thousands of years, the interaction between humans and animals at a sincere level. There 's nothing more pure than what this guy is doing. Taking away the man made concept of superior being versus dumb animal. This is purity at it's finest level. This guy has achieved a level of harmony with other beings of our planet that some of us only dream of and will never achieve. Why take that way from him? What does that bring you? Do you feel better now that you've criticized his pictures, his behavior and, his choice? Get real!!!!

Sincerity is a human trait not shared by animals. Animals don't have minds capable of deception.
This is purity? Anyone with patience can do what this man is doing, he has raised these animals in captivity. As long as you play by THEIR rules you will be okay, usually. What makes wild animals WILD is their unpredictabilty. If he continues this one day he WILL GET MAULED or eaten. He is playing the odds and I'm sure he knows that.
Anyone who has owned pets knows the bond that you are speaking of and yes, it beautiful.
Nobody is trying to take anything from him. I would support his work if I were financially able to do so. What other people and myself have tried to make clear is that these are A) - not entirely wild animals, and B) Don't try this for yourself kids.
We're not throwing out caveats to make ourselves feel better, we're trying to make people remember the REALITY of wild nature, which doesn't care about feelings or "purity".
While I admire your obvious love of these animals what you are doing is imposing human values and characteristics on animals that have their own distinct ways of being and living. While this is a common view it is still very far from the reality of what nature is and how it works.
As for this being something that has been "lost" for thousands of years all I can say is Unless you believe in a literal garden of eden, mankind has never has this kind of relationship with wild animals. Man has always been in competition with wild animals for food and resources. We have only succeeded as a species because we were able to kill animals for food or to keep them from taking our food.
These pictures illustrate a rare and unusual phenomenon. While it may be wonderful to see that someone can establish these kinds of close relationships, it is not something to be emulated nor does it illustrate any kind of "purity"on the part of either man or animal. How about you get real?