He Plays With the World's Fiercest Predator

May 30, 2008— -- Working at a wildlife park near Johannesburg, Kevin Richardson has developed a unique, intimate friendship with one of the world's fiercest predators, the African lion.

"I don't have the words to describe how amazing it is to interact with the lion the way I am. It's an incredible, emotional feeling. You never get sick of it," he said.

On any given day, Richardson may be tumbling around the grass with lion cubs.

"This is where it all starts, young and impressionable," he said as the cubs crawled all over him. "The way you play with them and the way you interact with them at this stage is exactly how they turn out."

An animal lover since childhood, Richardson studied zoology in college, then took a part-time job as a ranger in a lion reserve. Within a few months, he'd dedicated his life to studying and befriending them.

His method is unusual. Instead of disciplining them, he uses affection and trust. He's known most of these animals from birth. Over the years, he's learned to imitate every sound and posture to be accepted as one of their own.

Part of the art of this interaction is learning not to fight back and go with the flow. If cubs jump on you — and of course these guys are much less dangerous than the big guys — let them. If they bite a little bit, don't resist because they might bite a bit harder.

As they grow into adults, interacting with them takes a little more, well, finesse. Sometimes, Richardson behaves like a pussy cat. Other times, he acts like the king of the jungle.

"We've had gos at each other. As stupid as it sounds, there have been times," Richardson admits.

How does one have a go at a lion?

"Make a big noise," he explains, "It's all showmanship."

Hunting and shrinking habitats have reduced the lion population in the wild from 200,000 in the 1980s to 16,000 today.

"As quickly as humans develop the land and breed up, someone has got to suffer and unfortunately it's lions."

Richardson hopes that by showing the public his ability in a new game park and in an upcoming documentary he'll draw attention to the lions' plight.

"Conservation and awareness, they go hand-in-hand," he said. "Once you're interacting with the lions and you've got someone's attention, you can give people the facts without shoving them down their throat."

His work has already dispelled some myths about lions, such as the misperception that they don't have feelings and that they can't bond with humans. But for him, this is mostly a labor of love.

"You've got to sit yourself down on a weekly basis and say you're extremely privileged to be doing what you're doing with these big cats," he said.