Emotional footage shows a man meeting the lions he rescued after 7 years of separation
The main hunter of the pride is the lioness. She is a force to be reckoned with because of her superior instincts, strength, and leaping precision. One man, aptly called the «lion whisperer,» did manage to join the pride.
Kevin Richardson has made it his life’s work to study, communicate and document African predators. Seven years ago he found two orphaned lion cubs in a wet ditch. About an hour northeast of Johannesburg, South Africa, Kevin brought them to his sanctuary. A sanctuary is a place where large carnivores can live in the wild, protected from humans.
Richardson states, «I really think that if I hadn’t brought Meg and Amy back, they would still be in the canned lion hunting business.» Both lionesses immediately demonstrated their outstanding hunting skills.
Richardson recalls one occasion when the two lionesses scattered and talked to each other, as they do in the wild during a hunt. One of them was chasing the animal and the other was pouncing on it. «It was just in their DNA.»
The sanctuary was founded by Richardson with a purpose: «Through education, outreach and funding, our goal is to bring attention to the rapid decline of large carnivores in Africa due to habitat loss, human-predator conflict, illegal bushmeat trade, unfair hunting, disease and illegal trade.»
Meg, one of the lionesses Richardson rescued, was reunited with him in a heartbreaking encounter. Richardson was standing near the pond, and Meg appeared to be hunting some kind of prey. She stopped at the water’s edge. She hesitated to go into the water, for she was not sure she was swimming under water.
However, her complete confidence in Richardson was confirmed when she jumped into the water and embraced him. He reassured her by gesturing and talking to her. She could have easily wounded or killed him with all «her serious weapons,» but instead she licked his face.
«Wow, this lion trusts me enough to go in the water,» he said. «Meg and Amy are kind of my soul mates. It’s like people: you can meet a lot of people in your life. But there are very few people you connect with wholeheartedly.
With lions, I have a close emotional connection.» According to Richardson, the destruction of these amazing creatures is his own business. In honor of the late Cecil, this video was created. In my eyes, they are not a commodity.»
The video below shows Meg’s spectacular leap into the water:
