A Swiss financier who quit his job to look after a pride of lions in South Africa has shared terrifying images showing him getting up close and personal with the ferocious animals.
Swiss financier Dean Schneider, 27, quit his job to look after a pride of lions and other wildlife at his Hakuna Mipaka Oasis reserve in South Africa’s wilderness
Today, he lives on a wildlife sanctuary in South Africa – which he runs – and regularly shares remarkable pictures and video of him frolicking with supposedly dangerous wild animals via Instagram.
Unnerving footage shows Dean standing calmly to the greet three big cats who come bounding out of long grass and knock him to the ground
‘I wouldn’t call it playing with lions,’ says Dean. ‘Because it’s more living with lions, and being part of their pride’
‘It’s definitely not a good idea to play with lions!’
Despite the fact he spends much of his days since moving to South Africa frolicking with strong, toothsome beasts, Dean says he’s never scared.
Despite the fact he spends much of his days since moving to South Africa frolicking with strong, toothsome beasts, Dean says he’s never scared. Pictured: With Dexter the lion
‘With lions, I know exactly how they think and how they work. I’m communicating constantly with them when I’m spending time with them. So there was never a situation where I was scared, even when they hurt me’
‘Getting hurt by a lion while spending time with them is totally normal.’
His reserve, the Hakuna Mipaka Oasis, is a expensive enterprise, with costs including building camps, feeding animals, paying vet bills and a new second fence planned for an enlarged lion enclosure
‘It doesn’t matter if they are in the wild or captivity’
Dean says that he would stop short of interacting with really wild animals, who are much more likely to see him as a threat. Pictured: Chuckie the hyena with Dean’s hand in his mouth
‘You have to grow into it, you have to know them from small on and then you can do things like that. Otherwise this will never work’
‘It is hundred percent natural. They look at me like a brother, like a part of their family.’
‘They don’t look at me like a teacher or a boss. There is no chance I could tell Dexter or one of my animals to walk there or to sit down or to do this and that. They will look at me and think like what is this guy talking about’
‘The more you understand them, the more you can communicate with them clearly. I think that’s the secret’
‘Most of it is based on body language of course because every movement you do is like a word or a sentence.
‘Lions break everything down into a simple picture and this makes them often very wise as they think situations’
‘In my opinion, they are even cleverer or more intelligent than we humans are, because our superintelligence makes us stupid.’
‘My main mission is to bring animals into people’s hearts to inspire and educate people globally about the animal kingdom.
‘Lions set up a certain strategy and you can see that. You can see the entire process of how they are getting to their goal. And this is just amazingly intelligent for me.’
Despite the challenges, Dean is happy with his life choices and is unlikely to get back into the cut-throat world of finance any time soon