The Lion Whisperer Kevin Richardson
Each year, lions are raised in captivity in South Africa and then set loose in enclosed areas where hunters pay up to $40,000 (£25,000) to gun them down.
Kevin Richardson, The Lion Whisperer, hopes a new movie, White Lion, will give people second thoughts about participating in such trophy hunts that are worth more than 90 million dollars (£60 million) a year, according to the Professional Hunters Association of South Africa.
The government promotes hunting as a revenue source and calls it a "sustainable utilization of natural resources." The hunters' association says 16,394 foreign hunters – more than half from the United States – killed more than 46,000 animals in the year ending September 2007.
Richardson, the movie's producer, first befriended a pair of lion cubs at the Lion Park outside Johannesburg 12 years ago, when the cubs were 6 months and he was 23. He began shortening his hours as a therapist in postoperative rehabilitation to play with his new friends.
Park owner Rodney Fuhr soon offered him a part-time job which became full time. Today, Richardson cares for 39 lions at his 800-hectare (2,000-acre) Kingdom of the White Lion in Broederstroom, an hour and a half drive from Johannesburg, where he filmed the movie.
Lions are nocturnal and spend most of the day sleeping, so filming was limited to a couple of hours in the morning and perhaps another couple in the afternoon – if the cats were willing.
Richardson said he breaks every rule in the book in handling lions. On a recent morning, the lions welcomed Richardson with rumbling purrs. One shut his eyes in ecstasy and rolled onto his back as Richardson scratched his chin. Another licked Richardson's hand, the tongue as rough as sandpaper. Too many licks can cause bleeding.
Two 400-pound (180-kilogram) lions wrestled him to the ground and a lioness jumped on his back, covering Richardson for a tense minute. He emerged from a tangle of furry blond limbs, face red. One lion threw a casual paw on Richardson's shoulder. "Lions are 99 percent chill and 1 percent lethal," Richardson said.
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