Kevin Richardson

Kevin Rene Richardson (born 8 October 1974), known as "The Lion Whisperer", is a South African YouTube personality, wildlife conservationist and self-taught sanctuary owner who works with African lions, black leopards, spotted hyenas and striped hyenas. Kevin Richardson was born in the Nightingale Clinic in Johannesburg, South Africa, on the 8th of October, 1974.

He spent his childhood in the neighbourhood of Orange Grove. His mother, Patricia, worked for Barclays Bank and was also born in South Africa. Richardson's father, who worked for a pharmaceutical company, was born in the United Kingdom and moved to South Africa from Reading, Berkshire. Kevin Richardson is the youngest of four children: he has an older brother and two sisters who are twins.

His father died when Richardson was thirteen years old. When he was about sixteen, he met Stan Schmidt and began his career as a "self-taught behaviourist." Richardson went to college and studied zoology, but quit following two years of repetitive lessons on marine biology instead of mammals. As an adult, Richardson believed that he would never have a career working with animals and that it would remain a hobby of his.

He started taking courses in physiology and anatomy in college and started a career in exercise physiology and became an exercise physiologist. When he was twenty-three, he had the opportunity to work as a handler and cared for two six-month-old lion cubs, Tau and Napoleon which he later rescued. His early years took place at the Lion Park near the outskirts of his home in Johannesburg.

He still runs with the now full grown cubs in the wild. The facility owner, Rodney Fuhr, started him off with a part-time job at the Lion Park. Richardson and his team work with animals for the commercial filming industry and make documentaries to generate income to fund the facility. They also have a volunteer programme which generates income, and volunteers who help to run the sanctuary.

Richardson worked within a 650 hectares (1,600 acres) Lion Park in Broederstroom, a town 35 miles north of his hometown, Johannesburg, in South Africa. Whilst primarily specializing in lions, he has also interacted with hyenas and black panthers. The park, which was set up with the help of Rodney Fuhr, is 800 hectares (2,000 acres) and was built for the set of the 2010 movie White Lion.

Richardson cares for thirty-nine lions at this facility. As of 2011 the facility was private, but there were plans to open it to the public. The sanctuary's Web site said in 2020 that it was open for guided group tours and had a volunteering program. In 2015 the Kevin Richardson Wildlife Sanctuary relocated to Welgedacht Private Game Reserve near Pretoria.

He has slept next to, fed, and lived with lions. He has also worked with cheetahs, leopards, and hyenas. He prefers lions to any other big cat. His relationship with the animals, however, has not been an instant one. He has known all of the lions he works with since they were cubs. He still continues his bond with Tau and Napoleon, the lion brothers who were his introduction to big cats.

... Source: Article "Kevin Richardson (zookeeper)" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.