Answers to five key questions about South Africa’s ‘lion whisperer’
1 Who is the ‘lion whisperer?’
Kevin Richardson, a South African man, is known as the “lion whisperer” for his close interactions with the predators. Richardson, who keeps lions at his animal sanctuary in the Dinokeng Game Reserve, campaigns against the South African industry in which customers kill captive-bred lions in relatively confined areas, and said many of the lions in his care were rescued from being transferred to facilities where the practice labelled by critics as “canned hunting” occurs. He said he hoped his hands-on interaction with lions, including caressing and cavorting, would help to highlight the plight of Africa’s wild lions.
2 Why is he in the news?
On Tuesday, Richardson said on Facebook that he and an “experienced” colleague took three lions for a walk in the reserve and that one chased an impala, eventually encountering a 22-year-old woman at least two kilometres away. The lion killed the woman.
3 Why was she in the path of danger?
The woman died at a tented camp run by Richardson. “The young woman was not a guest at the camp, but had accompanied her friend to conduct an interview for an assignment with the camp’s manager,” he said. “Before leaving the reserve, the two visitors were taking photographs outside the camp where the attack occurred.”
4 What do experts say?
Some conservationists say cap- tive-bred lions lose their fear of people and should not be released into the wild, partly because they pose a heightened threat to humans. The management of the Dinokeng reserve said the woman was killed “within a conservation section that is not accessible to the general public” but lies within the reserve’s boundaries.
5 What does Richardson say?
“I have been accepted as part of the pride.
“But I have to be very careful. They are large animals and are very good at telling you how they feel.”
— Story from The Associated Press