This video is sure to split opinion. Even I personally don’t really know what to think. I spent half of it with my mouth agape and half of it cringing and on the edge of my seat in case one of the lions decides it’s a little hungry.
The video shows Kevin Richardson, a 34-year-old man who looks after a reserve near Johannesburg, South Africa. There are 38 lions on the reserve, and Richardson treats them all as his friends. So he’s either very trusting of their natures or mad.
He is particularly close to two of the lions, which he helped rear in captivity. And you can immediately see their affection towards him when he approaches. But the others? They seem a little less willing to play and more likely to eat him for dinner.
When he’s wrestling with a few of the lions I really do worry he’s about to have his limbs ripped off. I wouldn’t be surprised if this guy does eventually get eaten by his “friends”. After all, to them he is a gourmet meal first and foremost.
