LION MAN Has Unbreakable Bonds with LIONS, Leopards and Hyenas!

Name: LION MAN Has Unbreakable Bonds with LIONS, Leopards and Hyenas! | The Lion Whisperer
Uploaded: 2026-08-13T15:06:32+00:00
Duration: 48 min 1 s
Channel: The Lion Whisperer

00:00Bobcat. Hello my boy. Bobcat. Hey everyone. I'm here with Bobcat. Yes, my boy. And Gabby behind.

00:14Today guys is an incredible day. It's an incredibly special day. It's a massive milestone as we

00:23publish our thousandth video here on YouTube. And for those of you who are new

00:29to the channel, boy oh boy, you have a ton of adventures to go back and wade through.

01:01I'm sitting here with Meg and Amy and they just made a kill of a water buck and now she's

01:13just left her to go and get a drink. The two sisters Meg and Amy are very similar lions

01:20in many ways but very different in others. Amy's a little bit more of an insecure lion.

01:28She'd rather run away than explore. Oh! Megaloo! Meg is boisterous and she's really game for anything.

01:47Hello. Let's go through the water. Okay.

01:56Lions are what is known as an apex predator. They're at the top of the food chain. Very strong,

02:04very agile, and very fast. Why are you with the skittish man, sweetie?

02:18Maggie!

02:21Their coats or their fur color is a tawny color which blends in superbly with the surrounding habitat.

02:30Females are not as bulky. They don't have this big cumbersome mane. Oh! Meggy! Come, sweetie! Oh!

02:41If they do hunt alone, they will generally sneak up to the prey as close as possible and then make

02:50a sprint for it.

03:14She just left her to go and get a drink.

03:17Obviously, my heart goes out to the poor little animal that lost its life. But it is nature. It's fair,

03:24fair chance, fair escape. And, you know, kudos to Meg for stalking and chasing and then bringing this

03:33little guy down. So, yeah. What a day. Just another boring day in Africa.

03:41All right, guys. So, from our humble beginnings back in 2014, that's when the channel started.

03:50We've shared so many unforgettable moments with these wonderful animals together. And what started

03:59really as a passion has grown into such an amazing community. You guys out there, every one of you,

04:09has played an integral part in making this journey so rewarding. This journey with me and my animal friends.

04:24No, no, no, no.

04:32Oh, my girl. Oh, that was not graceful. Hello, big boy.

04:44Oh, boy. You want to go walk?

04:56People are always asking the question, why do we do it? For me, the answer is simple and it's obvious.

05:02It's to

05:03enrich the lion's lives and to give them a quality of life.

05:12Okay, and immediately you can see Bobcat is marking his territory on the tree.

05:18And this is typically what Bobcat does. When he comes out, he really enjoys himself.

05:26It's really incredible to see how, when you haven't walked them for a while, how they get,

05:31you know, cooped up and they're just so energetic and excited to get out. So, you'll see.

05:43That's not very nice, you know. Let's sit up here. Come.

05:54What are you doing, Gab?

06:05I hope you enjoyed the walk as much as Bobcat and Gabby did. He really enjoys going on his walks,

06:11as you can see. And now they come back and they rest in the night pen and enjoy the rest

06:17of their day.

06:18If you enjoyed that little walk today, please share it with your friends. If you subscribe to Lion

06:23Whisperer TV, Bobcat says, thanks. If not, Bobcat says, why not? And yes, your little contribution by

06:32sharing really does make a difference because the more shares you can get on these videos,

06:37the better it is for the cause.

06:40Right. So, this channel has never really just been about wildlife. Okay. It is a wildlife channel,

06:46but it's never really just been about the wildlife. It's actually been about all of us.

06:53So, I wanted to take the time out to say a big thank you to all the people that have

06:57supported

06:58the channel and taken us up to a hundred thousand subscribers.

07:02When I first started working with Lion 17 years ago, I never thought there would be an opportunity

07:07to show everyone just how amazing these creatures are. I hope you'll keep watching and enjoy the videos

07:13we're making. Comment. Tell me what you think. Together, let's get people excited about lion conservation.

07:21This is Kevin Richardson from Lion Whisperer TV.

07:27Just got a really good message from the guys back in London. We have over 150,000 subscribers.

07:59Thank you very much. Keep on watching. There's great things to come.

08:05Remember to share and remember if you're not subscribed, subscribe.

08:09So, yeah, all I can say is a big thanks and keep on watching. Cheers.

08:17Hi everyone. I'm sitting here with Duke and Khan, the lovely two black leopards that we have

08:26here at the sanctuary. It's a very special day because we've hit 200,000 subscribers here on the

08:36Lion Whisperer YouTube channel and I thought it would be a great opportunity to just sit here with Duke and

08:46Khan

08:48and say thank you to all our loyal subscribers. You really are making it happen and if you'd like to

08:57see

08:57more videos of these beautiful animals and what they get up to on a daily, weekly basis and also

09:06more importantly help us spread the message, spread awareness as to the plot of all these animals

09:13in captivity and in the wild, then please do share the messages, tell your friends to subscribe

09:20and continue watching for more exciting videos. So, from us here at the sanctuary, thank you so much.

09:27200,000, well done everyone, really happy. So is Khan, really happy. Hey Karny, tell everyone

09:34how happy you are, boy. And cheers from us.

09:48Hi everybody, I have just received some amazing news. I'm sitting here with Siam, Ikka and Niobe and

09:56Spirit Digital, the YouTube guys who handle my YouTube channel have just informed me that we have reached

10:03one million subscribers. So, I'm stoked. That means we're over a million subscribers on all the platforms

10:11that we operate on on social media, but of all of them, YouTube is really important to me because

10:17it's such an effective way of spreading the message. I remember back in 2014 when we decided to start the

10:25channel. We wanted to start this channel so that we could create more awareness, educate, inform and of

10:33course entertain. I think that's an important component we must not forget because if we don't

10:39entertain people and show them a nice side and, you know, a side that's exciting and interesting,

10:47they're not going to return back to the channel to hear all the other important information that we

10:53need to share about the plot of lions like Siam in captivity and their cousins in the wild. So,

11:00guys, it's thanks to you guys really that the channel is such a success. We value your input.

11:08We read all your comments. We try and get to answer the questions to the best we can. We are

11:14a small

11:15team. We are growing with the ability of the members part of the channel. That's really, really cool.

11:24That's growing in leaps and bounds. Again, thanks to all of you. And yeah, we just hope that you guys

11:31continue to enjoy the videos, continue to watch the videos and continue to share the videos because

11:38ultimately that helps us to look after the lions in our care like Siam and, you know, create the much

11:46needed awareness around the world for the plight of these lovely animals. So please, please, please keep

11:53on watching. Thank you for subscribing. Thank you for helping us reach one million onwards and upwards

12:01to two million and three million. And yeah, sky's the limit. So yeah, guys, thanks Emil. Stay tuned.

12:08There's more installments coming. And yeah, I thought I'd just share this video with you.

13:41Hi everyone, we are attempting to move the black leopards again. It's been a few days.

14:01Somebody is ready to rock. Somebody is ready to rock and roll.

14:13No, don't start that. You're going to go to your new spot. Do you want to go to a new

14:23spot?

14:26Coley, new spot. That's it.

14:46Here we go. Smarty pants.

15:03Cool. You can drive this car in.

15:09Because this is very intimidating for him. Yeah.

15:23Look, he's also intimidated by all the eyes on him.

15:26Yeah. So, it'll be comfortable. No, he'll be more comfortable inside.

15:36Can I let him out? Yeah.

16:02Oh, I thought that was him. I'm like, yes. Well done, Cole.

16:13Oh, man.

16:19Okay, one more. You go out.

16:22More tea.

16:36There's a little bit of a butt shove there.

16:42Daka, just drive slowly, yeah?

16:55Oh, yes.

16:57Oh, yes.

16:59Oh, yes.

17:00Hello, my boy.

17:02Just give me a look there.

17:11Oh, that's a love bite. Yes.

17:14All right, guys.

17:15It is the first time in a couple of weeks that I'm seeing the animals.

17:19I went away on a much needed break away from filming social media and just, you know,

17:25getting out of town. When I left, the batteries were depleted. Now they're fully charged.

17:31Ready to make some awesome content for you guys. And I'm going to be starting with a video,

17:38basically a reunion, call it if you will, video. Hello, my gorgeous.

17:48Cappy!

17:51Hello, my boy.

17:53Oh, too busy rubbing trees.

17:54That was a nice greeting. Thank you.

17:57Thank you. Thank you.

18:00Cappy, you're a nutter. Hello, my boy.

18:03Hey, how are you? Oh, too busy.

18:07Where are you?

18:08There is a nutter.

18:12Hello, my boy.

18:19Yes, my boy.

18:23Oh, yeah, my boy.

18:25Oh, too busy.

18:54Well I'm a boy

19:03I don't know.

19:55That never gets boring guys, you're such a potent animal Bobcat that I cannot

20:03tell you the feeling of being so close to such a magnificent animal. Just that roar

20:14is just so powerful. It's just the ground vibrates guys. I wish you could feel the

20:21vibration on the ground. It invigorates your soul.

20:33I didn't even get a pounce on. Thanks. Is that what I mean to you?

20:38Hey? Gabs?

20:40I don't know.

20:54I don't know.

20:56I don't know.

21:06I don't know.

21:25I don't know.

21:30I don't know.

21:31I don't know.

21:41I don't know.

21:47I don't know.

21:56I don't know.

22:02I don't know.

22:03I've seen you for a while eh?

22:08There's been a lot of excitement but equally we've had a lot of heartbreak too. The surprises

22:17and the wonder of the life at a sanctuary. It's just, it's up and down.

22:42What a day. We have been fighting this fire since literally hop us down this morning. We were

22:50moving some animals around. We had just swapped the black leopards to their new enclosure. We got

22:56the call that this had started in a conservancy next door to the farm. And before you know it,

23:05with the wind pumping, this fire has been raging all day. It's now quarter past five. Everyone's

23:11tired. It's been a long day. Fire's still not out. It's literally hundreds and hundreds of

23:17hectares that have burnt on the farm. Luckily it's towards the end, well it is the end of the dry

23:25season.

23:26We've had one good rain to the grass should green up quite quickly. These kind of things are really

23:31unnecessary, especially when they started from people burning rubbish. So it's just again a cautionary to

23:43people who live in the bush felt. I mean the slightest of sparks can start a fire, especially when the

23:48felt

23:48is so dry at the end of August, beginning of September.

23:58What he's doing is what's called a backburn. People might be wondering why on earth are they setting the

24:05felt on fire when they're trying to combat a felt fire. And the reason is, is that if we don't

24:12backburn here, it's just going to, with the way the wind blowing, it's going to jump the road and

24:17continue burning the farm. And the sun's almost setting. And this is hopefully the last piece of

24:30felt that we're having to burn. It is just so dry. Everything just goes up in flames. Wow, look at

24:41that.

24:47It's another one for Lion Whisperer TV. Obviously not the normal feel-good video, but good to show

24:54people what goes on on a game farm, especially when a fire gets out of control. It's also nice to

25:01see

25:01all the teamwork. People have been working like Trojans the entire day with nothing to eat besides

25:09some water to drink. Pretty warm water. I've got to move my car. Signing out. Cheers.

25:21Come, come say hello. No, no, Yame.

25:32Okay, so here we are with none other than George and Yame, who are now 13 months old. I actually

25:41can't believe it. Boy, have they grown. Especially Yame. Yame's just turned into an incredible

25:49young lion. And he's got this little mane developing. Little George, although he battles still with his

25:56joints and his back legs, he's on a lot of medication for it. But despite that, he's got a character

26:04of

26:04note. And he's such an adorable little lion. He's got such a loving nature. And we're going

26:09to be taking them on their walk. They go for a couple of these a week. And it's to enrich

26:15their

26:15lives as well. And we're going to actually go on a patch of ground that was burnt in a

26:20felt fire. And as we're walking along, I'll explain actually what happened and the hazards

26:26at this time of the year, with the felt being so dry. So I hope you enjoy the walk. Okay,

26:34let's go.

26:35Oh, okay. Let's go. Let's go. Slowly boy. Oh, okay. Oh.

26:54So you can see this really big patch of burnt felt. So in this particular instance, we don't

27:02really know how the fire started. And it was through grit and determination that we managed

27:10to eventually get the fire under control. But there was a lot of devastation. And one

27:15of the most horrifying things was when the fire actually came through George and Yama's

27:23enclosure. And we had to vacate the two little guys out of the enclosure. In fact, Yama was

27:31so scared, he tried to jump out. And in fact, it managed to break out. When they were first

27:37put back in the enclosure, they looked at us as if to say, what are you expecting us to

27:44do here? And they were extremely worried and scared. As you can see, there's no such worries

27:50about the burnt felt now. In fact, they walk over it quite easily.

28:20I don't know. It's just, it's just devastation.

28:24Who's in there? Okay. God love. I just pray that he's okay.

28:37Really bad fire at the farm. I'm rushing in now. I was, I actually just left the farm about

28:44an hour ago. And there was nothing. And then I get a call from the farm basically saying

28:52that it's fires out of control. And yeah, that's heading towards the enclosure. So my guys are

29:00trying to lock the lines in the enclosures. I'm heading in to see if I can obviously speed

29:08that up. Obviously the most important thing here is animals' lives and human lives are upset to the team.

29:16Buildings and things can be replaced. Lives can't. So devastation, guys. Devastation.

29:31Just jumps us like there's nothing.

29:38Dust devil. Obviously with all the heat.

29:45It's burning into the enclosures.

29:49with all the heat.

29:50Who's in there?

29:55Bobcat.

29:59Should be okay.

30:10Should be okay.

30:15Oh, no, dead bee.

30:22Cool, you can do.

30:29Oh.

30:31Yeah.

30:33Hello, my boy.

30:37Hello, my boy.

30:38Oh.

30:44Okay, they see my kite.

30:45Are you okay, my girl?

30:47Are you okay?

31:01Okay.

31:04There's so much dust.

31:06There's so much smoke.

31:08Oh my God.

31:08Oh my God, this is just unbelievable.

31:18I don't know, it's just, it's just devastation.

31:41This is Bobcat and Gebs.

31:43This was an inferno, you have no idea.

31:52Hello, my guys.

31:53Oh, yes.

31:55I'm sorry, guys.

31:59No, no, no, it cools down quickly.

32:02Cools down quickly.

32:03Hello, my boys.

32:04Hello, my girl.

32:06Hello, my girl.

32:07Okay.

32:08Okay, okay, okay.

32:10Slowly, slowly, slowly.

32:11Don't go, don't go.

32:13Slowly.

32:15Slowly.

32:18But that will burn out, I think.

32:20Okay, let's go down to the others.

32:21You should go and run.

32:22Yeah, run, run, run.

32:29Bye, it's here.

32:35Hello, my boy.

32:36Okay.

32:42Okay, I think, let's, let Payetze out and the girls.

32:50Hello, my boy.

32:52Oh, hello, my boy.

32:56You can let him out.

33:04Okay, you're good.

33:05You're good, my boy.

33:07You're good.

33:12You're good.

33:14Yeah.

33:16Let's go, come.

33:17Come.

33:18Let's go.

33:19Come on.

33:20Come on.

33:21Let's go.

33:21Come on.

33:22Come on.

33:23Come on.

33:46Gabby, don't be naughty.

33:50Come on.

33:51You've done a lot in your old age.

33:53You know that.

33:58All right.

33:59So, guys, thank you.

34:01Really thank you to everyone who has watched the video.

34:04Everyone who has left a comment, shared an episode, subscribed to the channel, and become

34:12a member or joined as a pride leader.

34:15Your support has made all of this possible, and I couldn't have reached this milestone without

34:22you.

34:23Hey, Lion Whisperers.

34:25I'm sitting here with Payetze and Livy and Ginny in the background, and many of you have

34:31been asking me for longer form content on the channel, and I'm really pleased to announce

34:36that we can now offer that to you in the form of memberships.

34:39So, what is memberships?

34:41Basically, for a nominal monthly fee, you will be able to access exclusively this longer form

34:49content.

34:50It enables me to just go into a little bit more depth about the wonderful lives of these

34:55animals, as well as get out of the sanctuary and bring you the important information that

35:01I want to get through to you guys.

35:03There's other cool features, such as emojis.

35:07I really like this emoji, badges that come up next to your name.

35:11So, people will immediately be able to recognize that you are a member.

35:15That'll change color, by the way, depending on how long you've been a member for.

35:20The other thing that's really cool is community posts, exclusive community posts, whereby you'll

35:25get pictures and updated information on what's going on here at the sanctuary and about these

35:31animals.

35:31Really cool.

35:32But I suppose the most important thing for me is that you'll ultimately be helping me

35:37in my mission to protect and support these majestic animals and to raise as much awareness

35:44as to the plight of lions in captivity and in the wild.

35:48So, you'll be joining me and helping me in my mission.

35:51I think that's a cool thing.

35:52So, guys, please become a member.

35:56Help us to help the animals and help these lions and look forward to seeing you there.

36:01So, thanks for listening and all the best.

36:30We'll see you next time.

36:53Welcome to Antarctica.

37:10There they are, the colony.

37:14Up ahead, we have pinged one.

37:18It's unbelievable.

37:22It's like walking on the moon.

37:24Yeah, it is, eh?

37:25Yeah.

37:27Like walking on the moon.

37:34Not many people get to see these guys in their natural habitat.

37:40And just when you're out here and you see how remote this area is and what it takes to

37:45get here, and then how these birds are just surviving so well.

38:02They're very, very lucky cubs, that's all I can say.

38:04They were very lucky to have been noticed by Linda and rescued by CJ and Louis.

38:14You know, when I heard the story about these two cubs, I thought I have to intervene and I have

38:20to offer help.

38:21So many people, these cubs are stressed and George has dropped his head and I think it's just time, let's

38:28get these cubs out of here.

38:29You know, you have your plans and then life takes over.

38:32So when Chris said, look, you know, there are these two little lion cubs.

38:36I didn't say yes at first.

38:37I mean, we were like, okay, we'll think about it and look at it.

38:40When you read their story and you hear their story and it's, you know, it's a good cause.

38:45It's a worthwhile, a worthwhile thing.

38:48For now, it's about getting them settled in, getting them used to people, new surroundings.

38:55You know, you can already see they're starting to play and they've now had their first drink, a real drink.

39:01So George over here is going to have a checkup with the ophthalmologist later on this month.

39:07He's going to be looking at his cataracts in his eyes just to see the potential for some surgery on

39:15them.

39:16Maybe some laser surgery and give him his quality of life back because at the moment he doesn't see that

39:22well.

39:24A few days after the surgery and it is unbelievable the progress that this lion has made.

39:30It's a naughty little aggressive cat.

39:32And even Yame had, you know, still the remnants of the cataracts on the eye.

39:38You'd say he's pretty much a healthy cub.

39:41George has got a little way to go.

39:42Still, you know, little calluses on his paws and he's got these little wounds on his head.

39:47These animals are extremely resilient.

39:54Two brothers, yet they're so different in personalities.

39:58Yame is known as the troublemaker and that he is.

40:01Any opportunity, you turn your back on him.

40:04Georgie, he's slightly more reserved.

40:06He's slightly more shy.

40:07He's a little bit more nervous.

40:09George just likes to talk.

40:11He doesn't see you if you're not around or if his brother's not around then he's that wow, wow.

40:16Whereas Yame is so confident he doesn't need to.

40:18He's just full of beans and full of confidence.

40:27People often talk about poaching as a war and it really is.

40:32Poachers make a move.

40:34You analyze, you, you know, recompose.

40:37You make a move and so forth.

40:39And ultimately this is not a war we want to lose.

40:43So I'm on my way to a crime scene not far from here and it's a heinous crime.

40:52It's a, if the victim is a young mother, apparently with five children and the body has just been dumped,

41:05badly mutilated and dumped in a riverbed.

41:09Um, and sadly this kind of crime is on the increase in South Africa.

41:16Right, so I've met up with Matt and, uh, he will be taking me through to see the remains.

41:26So, when I actually first came down here, um, I noticed meat hanging over there, there's still remains of it.

41:35Which was a little bit strange, I mean, not much will hang up meat except for humans.

41:39If you come down here, see the remains of what's left of her.

41:44And, um, what these poachers did was actually skinned her.

41:48They cut off all of her limbs.

41:50And so she was pretty much unrecognizable.

41:54And that's why it took me so long to actually realize that it was a cheetah.

41:56We know this cheetah, um, quite well because, uh, recently she gave birth to five cubs and, uh, yeah, there's

42:09more to the story.

42:10So, what about her cubs?

42:12I mean, now she's dead.

42:15Um, how did you go about trying to track them down?

42:18Um, about a month ago, whilst monitoring collars and, and her satellite updates and logs, we realized she was spending

42:25a lot of time in one particular spot and, uh, decided to go back to that area where she continuously

42:31kept GPS updating and, uh, walked a bit, walked a bit, and to my, to my surprise, lay five little

42:38tiny cubs.

42:39The cheetah are a very endangered species, so, you know, every single life counts, um, so immediately after we found,

42:46uh, their mother and the snare,

42:47we decided to go and create a massive search operation to try and find these cubs, um, these amazing gentlemen

42:54over here helped with that as well.

42:57We knew that over the last year poaching was going to be on the increase, but we had no idea

43:03what we were in store for.

43:06Five tiny little helpless cheetah cubs.

43:09It's a tragic story, but out of this tragedy we hope there's this potential for hope and for some good

43:27goodness.

43:28I keep on looking around because

43:31any moment now I expect a hyena to come walking down that road

43:37or even a lion and this is what it's all about. This is where the

43:41the rubber hits the road guys. They've got to now become wild cheetah and, uh, we've been discussing

43:49the one element that we cannot teach them. We've been discussing it for months. How do we teach them

43:55to avoid other predators? And the simple answer is you can't. It's without them being exposed to them,

44:03without them learning that early on from their mother, you can't. So they've just got to learn it

44:10by

44:11seeing it and reacting to it and

44:14we just pray that they react in the correct way, which is obviously run away.

44:19On my way to Old Chapel Veterinary Clinic and I'm going to be fetching the two cheetah cubs

44:27that are now known as the mystery cubs. I'm super excited to see these cubs. I haven't seen them in

44:34a week. They've been eating with a voracious appetite. Peter's very happy with the progress so

44:42it's time for them to move on and we have a nice beautiful one hectare open space ready for them,

44:51ready prepared with the the closed night quarters where they can seek safety.

45:14No, no, that's fine. Probably a bit warmer.

45:21You can just go and I'll meet you there, yeah.

45:26All right, arriving at the sanctuary with the precious cargo

45:31and I'm pretty sure they cannot wait to get out of that crate and go and stretch their legs a

45:40bit.

45:40Go and run around the felt and enjoy some of the sunshine D that's on offer today.

45:48The whole team is waiting for the arrival. Look at them like expectant mothers.

45:58Ah, that's cool to see. Look at that.

46:04Georgie!

46:06There's the surrogate mother Caroline and all the other crew.

46:14Mind your fingers, these things bite.

46:24All right, you can do the honours. We can all do that and then just have this plate

46:30slowly closed so we don't lose any.

46:36All right, awesomeness.

46:43Hello you.

46:50I'd love for you guys to put your comments, your favourite moments down below.

46:58Onwards and upwards, here is to the next adventure, the next chapter.

47:04All right, so big, big love to you all and thank you for being part of this journey.

47:11And Bobcat, yes, Bobcat says thank you so much guys.

47:18A thousand and maybe another thousand to come.

47:21And my boy, a thousand went quickly.

47:27Gabby!

47:54Gabby!

47:55Gabby!

47:56Gabby!

47:57Gabby!

47:59Gabby!

48:00Gabby!

LION MAN Has Unbreakable Bonds with LIONS, Leopards and Hyenas! | The Lion Whisperer

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