Lion pride accepts man as one of their own! Wow!

[MoonRiver]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=3874954811914&fref=nf

[Cali_Democrat]

1. Cool!

[temporary311]

2. Hopefully

he doesn't end up like that bear dude up in Alaska.

[MoonRiver]

4. I had the same thought.

The video says he's an animal behaviorist so maybe he knows a little more about his lion friends. My guess is that he has supplied them with lots of yummies and they may see him a reliable source for food. Plus they all seem to really enjoy frolicking around with the guy!

[SheilaT]

10. I thought the very same thing.

Although there may be a difference here in that given what they said in that piece, he may have known all those lions from the time they were cubs, which is a little different from the bear guy, I believe.

Even so, I'm sure the eventual story will be that he is killed by a lion.

[CTyankee]

15. I didn't want to say that, but it was what I was thinking...

I guess I really don't see the point of trying to be Dr. Doolittle. Evolution is not on this guy's side.
He really thinks that he is not "lion food" and that is scary for him.

[mimi85]

21. Yep, just like

part wolf dogs and other animals. We had a friend that was turned on by his wolf/shepard dog. He came out ok, but with some nasty ass scars.

These ARE wild animals, it's in their genes and you just never know. Just like Steve Irwin the Australian guy aka the crocodile hunter. I sure hope that this guy stays safe.

[jmowreader]

28. Come on...you KNEW Steve Irwin was going to be killed by an animal

[cui bono]

30. Okay, when you said "turned on by his wolf/shepard dog"

I thought you were gonna go in an entirely different direction. So glad I was wrong. Too many porn/prostitution threads on here clouding my mind...

[pinboy3niner]

40. Cool tail, bro

[MoonRiver]

41. Awwww!

[BrotherIvan]

14. The bear guy wasn't too bright

He was hanging around wild bears known to be extremely aggressive. I don't know if videos like these promote dumbness like Steve Irwin's show or if they're good for animals. I am very jealous of him though.

[davekriss]

44. First thing I thought of, too

[pinboy3niner]

3. He's their mane man!

[LeftofObama]

7. I'll bet you take a lot of pride in that statement.

[pinboy3niner]

8. I always get full credit for unoriginal, recirculated puns; it's a claws in my contract. nt

[LeftofObama]

13. It could cause an upROAR if you didn't get full credit.

It might even be considered CATastrophic!


I'll just LEOver here in the corner.

[pinboy3niner]

24. Don't be Grumpy

I have a haunch it's not good fur you (besides being a copyright infuringement).

Other than that, feel free to carrion.

[cui bono]

31. You ain't lion!

[jberryhill]

56. Prey tell

[pinboy3niner]

57. Thankyou. That gives me paws.

[Cheap_Trick]

25. I'm not lion

these are some bad puns.

[pinboy3niner]

29. It's a tough job, but we have to be groan-up about it and not shirk our duty

What Elsa is gnaw?

[LeftofObama]

33. Oh sure,

look at Mr. Purrfect.

[Eleanors38]

35. Get rid of the puns or Elsa!

[bigtree]

43. I think he's got Clarence for that

[pinboy3niner]

45. I have Super Double Secret TOP Clarence!

I was Vetted! I'd tell you more, but then I'd have to send my females to hunt you down and...well, you know.

[bigtree]

47. they'd probably pull my arms and legs all akimba

[pinboy3niner]

48. Not to mention what they'd do to your 'pride'

[bigtree]

49. or to my snagglepuss - heavens to murgatroid!

[pinboy3niner]

52. If I gave my junk a nickname like that I wouldn't be brave enough to admit it in pubic

[bigtree]

54. I guess I'm just a Simba man

. . .

[pinboy3niner]

58. Same here. Just put a golf cub in my hand...

...and I'm like, "What the fuck, man? It's a beautiful day, there are things to see, places to go, I don't give a shit about your little balls!"

[Cleita]

5. My cat sometimes likes playing with his food

before eating it too.

I hope there is someone on the other side of that fence with a tranquilizer gun when he does this.

[TorchTheWitch]

16. He only interacts like this with lions he's known since their birth

and it's taken him years to get to this point of acceptance. These aren't exactly wild animals and never have been. They were born in and raised in this animal sanctuary. He does the same with other types of animals like hyenas, jaguars, cheetahs, leopards... apparently not tigers though.

I've been reading about him and just started watching a documentary about him. I had no idea that lions do this mass cuddle ritual with each other normally even with several adult males in the cuddle pile.

He has an interesting view on the danger. Says that it would suck if he got killed by them and realized that he could be but would prefer dying that way as opposed to not interacting with them in this way. He also says he's been bitten and scratched rather badly many times, but it's never been because of anger from the lions but as accidents from the ritual grooming... apparently the lions don't realize that being a human he's a lot more fragile than another lion.

Interesting guy.

[Hoppy]

6. "Let him hang around until supper time."

[flamingdem]

9. I think that Lion is faking his interest

yeah, yeah, scratch me under my head.. I'm not some house cat already!

[progressoid]

11. The lion whisperer...

[MoonRiver]

27. Amazing!

[catbyte]

12. Thanks for posting!

[Duval]

17. K&R not only for the content, but

also for some of the clever and hilarious comments made by fellow DU members!! You guys are the greatest!!

[eggplant]

18. "Kitty!" (Boo, Monsters Inc.) n/t

[840high]

19. All that love - amazing.

[Jackpine Radical]

20. I think they're just playing

with their food.

[MFM008]

22. bad kitties

hate to clean that litter box.

[SummerSnow]

23. Ooh, lets play with our food before we eat it

[Lionel Mandrake]

26. He'd be lion if he didn't admit he was scared.

[Liberal_in_LA]

32. until they dont

[Corgigal]

34. When he was in the river

with the female lion, I noticed he pulled his head down and didn't expose his neck. Good idea, they are the most likely hunters of the group. I wish him well, and I hope all of them have a nice long life.

[malaise]

36. He's crazy

and one day they will kill him.

[MoonRiver]

42. That's what my husband says.

I'm still hoping he's got something magical going on with those cats.

[malaise]

46. After thousands of years of domestication

house cats still attack their owners. I wish him luck although I suspect he'll be happy with the logical outcome.

[MoonRiver]

50. He says as much in the video.

[Codeine]

37. Werner Herzog will be narrating a documentary

about his death when this is all over.

[elehhhhna]

55. yepski, tim treadwell deux, I mean duh

Lookit me! Lookit me! (Swat, chomp, etc.)

[pa28]

38. Hopefully none of the lions will have to be put down after he's eaten.

[Kaleva]

39. I won't be surprised to hear that he got turned into lion poop sometime in the future.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

51. As the Lyoness here are my thoughts..

The lions were very well fed and he had some sort of spray bottle with him with something in it. I don't think it was seasoning, but I could be wrong. BTW; it would be the first time ever I have been wrong.

[pinboy3niner]

53. As the Lyoness here, you could have summed up your thoughts more succinctly with...

"Yum!" (Just kidding! )

[TorchTheWitch]

66. it's a citronella based bug spray for the lions

They want to keep ticks especially off the lions since they can be disease carriers.

Richardson mentions this in one of the National Geographic documentaries about the lions and the sanctuary...

I posted a much longer National Geographic documentary in my post #64 (I think it's that number).

All the lions live in the sanctuary he runs, and he's said that he can only form these relationships with those lions that he's known since they were cubs and have always lived in captivity. He's also said he'd never be able to form these bonds with lions in the wild, and that even with "his" lions it's still risky.

Fascinating docs - highly recommended.

[Drew Richards]

59. Not on facebook got a diff link?

[Agschmid]

60. Here.

[Drew Richards]

61. Thank you that was beautiful

[pinboy3niner]

62. Where are the jury results? This should have a lion hide!

[Calista241]

63. That dude has GIANT fucking balls. n/t

[TorchTheWitch]

64. very interesting documentary film about him and his lions

and other animals. It's a National Geographic film. Rather long but shouldn't be missed. On YouTube in three parts - links below.

Richardson runs a wildlife sanctuary with 37 lions, 20 hyenas, and various other big cats. All of the animals live in huge wild enclosures separated into seven or so prides so they can live as real lions in the wild though none of them are capable of hunting so need to have their food provided to them. All the lions and hyenas he interacts with he's hand raised since birth, and he says he would never be able to have such a relationship with real wild lions.

The sanctuary is constantly on the brink with financial problems, so Richardson and his wife try various ways to generate income so that the sanctuary can be made safe for visitors that would generate income and make it self-sufficient. They also need many more worker volunteers for feedings, repairing fencing, etc. and unfortunately patrolling for poachers that are the bane of every South African animal sanctuary. He also has to pay close attention to all of the lions as to how they all get on in their various prides which doesn't always go well as young males as they age become aggressive with other males, some lions just don't get on with some other pride members, etc., so he has to switch around pride configurations often hoping that new configurations work out since all of the lion enclosures the sanctuary has have lions in them already... there is no more space for those animals that can't get along with the prides that exist. He also doesn't want to separate lions that have formed strong bonds with other particular lions.

At one point they have to fight a bush fire that threatens to overcome the entire sanctuary, and at at another time one of the lions unexpectedly dies making his best lion friend grief stricken along with various other issues like two hyenas get into a hierarchy clash and kill each others pups except for one that Richardson has to hand raise and then introduce into another hyena clan hoping they accept the youngster.

It's fascinating. I laughed, I cried, I was sometimes moved and sometimes on the edge of my seat.

Part One: Lion Ranger - Trouble in the Pride...

Part Two: Lion Ranger - Attack of the Teens...

Part Three: Lion Ranger - Death in the Kingdom...

[B Calm]

65. He'll get killed someday by accident.