Pawsome! South African wildlife expert nuzzles a hyena, hugs a giraffe and gives a lion a FOOT RUB after befriending them at an animal park

• Pictures show Shandor Larenty interacting with big cats at The Lion Park near Johannesburg, South Africa
• He can be seen nuzzling a hyena, hugging a giraffe and giving a lion a foot rub in the stunning photographs
• While he admits he is doing his ‘dream job’, 24-year-old says tireless work means he has no time for a love life

• e-mail

View
comments

A South African wildlife expert has struck up an extraordinary bond with his animals with pictures showing him hugging giraffes and hyenas and even giving a lion a foot massage.

Pictures show Shandor Larenty walking among predators at The Lion Park near the South African city of Johannesburg.

The 24-year-old looks entirely at ease inside the enclosure fences at the park with photographs showing him nuzzling a hyena and hurling a slab of meat in to the jaws of a leaping male lion.

But while he admits he is doing his ‘dream job’, Shandor says the work is so demanding it means he has no time for a love life. 

South African wildlife  expert Shandor Larenty has struck up an extraordinary bond with his animals with pictures showing him hugging giraffes and hyenas and even giving a lion a foot massage (pictured)

The 24-year-old looks entirely at ease inside the fences at the park with pictures showing him nuzzling a hyena and hurling a slab of meat in to the jaws of a leaping male lion (pictured)

Pictures show Shandor Larenty walking among big game animals at The Lion Park near the South African city of Johannesburg. One image shows him petting a giraffe as it stooped down to eat some food

Laughing matter: A hyena appears to grin as it received an affectionate face rub from South African wildlife expert Shandor Larenty

Close encounter: Shandor Larenty is pictured kneeling down next to two cheetahs at The Lion Park in Johannesburg, South Africa

Lion heart: Shandor Larenty, who says he has the ‘dream job’ embraces one of the park’s big cats in another daring encounter

The 24-year-old leans in to kiss one of the park’s cheetahs. While his friends were out partying and enjoying their teens, he was working night shifts mucking out hyenas, watching over sick lions, or attending special night feeds with injured giraffes

While his friends were out partying and enjoying their teens, he was working night shifts mucking out hyenas, watching over sick lions, or attending special night feeds with injured giraffes. 

Thankfully he does get affection from somewhere, but it’s usually from his furry friends at the park like Themba the hyena.

• EXCLUSIVE: Trophy hunter who crept up on sleeping Zimbabwe… ‘I live to pour boiling water on that man’: Outpouring of… British pensioner, 74, is named among ‘elite’ wildlife…

Share this article

‘She loves kisses,’ said Shandor. ‘She also likes to have her tongue scratched, which is weird, but she just loves it.’

Alex, Shandor’s father, made international headlines in 2010 when he was photographed giving one of the Lion Park’s huge male lions, called Jamu, a foot massage.

Shandor works so closely with the big cats and other predators at the large animal attraction that he has recreated the daring feat with George, a different male in the Park’s pride, aged seven.

Taking a dip: While crowds visiting the location are amazed at the interaction, Shandor says it shouldn’t be taken lightly

Roar emotion: Shandor stands just a few feet from one of the lions at the park as it stands up on its rear legs and rests on a tree

Pride in his work: Shandor walks alongside a male lion at the park. He started volunteering when he was just 13 and would ‘race’ to the facility where his father worked

While he admits he’s doing his ‘dream job’, Shandor says the work is so demanding it means he has no time for a love life

Thankfully he does get affection from somewhere, but it’s usually from his furry friends at the park like Themba the hyena and George the lion 

But while crowds visiting the location are amazed at the interaction, Shandor says it shouldn’t be taken lightly.

He said: ‘You always have to be cautious whether it’s a giraffe or a lion, these are wild animals and at the end of the day they all have the ability to either cause you some serious harm or potentially kill you.’

But Shandor says he wouldn’t have it any other way.

‘Most people work nine-to-five jobs in an office,’ he said. ‘I get to come out here into the African bush and see my lions. It’s like a dream.

‘George was born at the park and Shandor has been by his side for almost his whole life. I’ve maintained a relationship with him all the way through, which is why I can be so close to him.

‘The best thing about working with these animals is building relationships with them. Most people look and think “oh, that’s a cheetah, that’s a lion”. 

‘But we have lions with different personalities, so working with them is actually understanding them on a personal level.’

Shandor crouches down to tickle a cheetah under the chin in another extraordinary encounter at his park in South Africa

Shandor Larenty calmly walks among cheetahs as he makes his way through the big cats’ enclosure at the park in South Africa

Daring: The 24-year-old likes nothing better than getting up close and personal with the big cats at the South African park

Shandor Larenty kneels down inches away from a hyena. While he loves his job, he says he has no time to find romance

Tall order: Shandor reaches up to give one his giraffes a brush down inside an enclosure at the park in South Africa

Shandor started volunteering when he was just 13 and would ‘race’ to the facility where his father worked straight after school, taking every opportunity he could get to have contact with the predators and other exotic animals native to southern Africa.

He is now continuing the father and son tradition, working full time at the Lion Park and showing incredible bonds and interaction with the resident animals. In fact it’s part of a legacy that saw Alex’s mother, Shandor’s grandmother, working with animals too.

The father and son duo say their close contact approach to working with animals can pay off for everyone, including the animals, as evidenced by their resident cheetah Shitana.

Shandor said: ‘At 17 years old, she has far outlived the normal ten-to-twelve years life expectancy for a captive cheetah, and we think this is because we are so close to our animals, spending time in contact with them every day.

‘If there’s a problem, we will spot it quickly and get the animal to treatment,’ he said.

A giraffe towers over Shandor Larenty’s safari vehicle as he pets the giant animal in another extraordinary photograph

Shandor is not afraid to get close to and even pet some of the big cat predators at the park near Johannesburg, South Africa

Mane event:  Shandor’s interaction with lions is part of a legacy that saw his grandmother working with animals too

Alex, Shandor’s father (left), made international headlines in 2010 when he was photographed giving one of the Lion Park’s huge male lions, called Jamu, a foot massage

Source: Read Full Article