Kevin Richardson - The "Lion Whisperer" and his Land Rover Series 1

The two lions stalked through the bush, tailing the Series One Land Rover as if it were prey.

This article was originally published in 4x4 Australia’s March 2010 issue

As soon as the man opened the driver’s door they were on him, clawing and pummelling him to the ground, smothering his body with their sheer bulk, and cloaking him with their luxuriant manes. Extricating himself from the tangle of tawny fur and claws, the man called out: “How was that? Did you get a nice picture?”

Meet Kevin Richardson: film director, documentary maker, keeper of African predators, passionate Land Rover owner – and honorary lion.

After spending a few days with this South African at his private lion park, near Johannesburg, I’ve decided he’s not just a keeper of these majestic animals, he’s a part of their pride. “People are always trying to pigeonhole me,” Kevin explains, over coffee at his beautiful lodge on the banks of the Crocodile River.

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“I’m not a lion trainer – like in a circus – but my lions will usually do what I tell them to, because they want to. I’ve studied zoology, but I’m not a zoologist, either. I’m a keen student of animal behaviour and love watching them and taking notes, but I’m not a researcher or behaviourist.”

Type Kevin Richardson and lions into an internet search engine and you’ll quickly be directed to some amazing video footage of him and the special relationship he has developed, not just with the lions in his care, but hyenas, jackals, cheetahs, leopards and even a South American jaguar.

If there was a textbook on how to live and work with big cats and other dangerous predators, Kevin would be guilty of breaking every rule within it.

“I’m stubborn,” Kevin says. “I don’t do things just because that’s the way they’ve always been done. My methods are different.”

While other animal trainers use a stick, whip or an electric cattle prod (also known as a shock stick) Kevin uses nothing but love, interaction, and play to develop long-term relationships, often from birth, with the animals.

His unconventional attitude is also part of the reason why he jumped through hoops to get his hands on a Series One Land Rover.

Kevin has a massive passion for older vehicles; his 1969 Triumph Bonneville motorcycle holds equal pride of place in his garage alongside the other fine example of vintage British automotive engineering.

“I love old things. My Triumph is a fantastic runner, and I love the workmanship and the design of the Series One. Everything about older vehicles is great.”

That’s not to say Kevin lives his life in the slow lane, though. He also races superbikes, flies an aeroplane and a microlight and, of course, he plays with lions for a living.

When Kevin was growing up in suburban Johannesburg, there was little, other than an interest in birds, bugs, reptiles and household pets, that may have given a clue to his future career. He studied physiology at university and ended up working in a gym, helping to prepare hospital patients for surgery by strengthening their muscles and joints, and rehabilitating those who had been recently discharged.

One of his clients was successful businessman, Rodney Fuhr, owner of the Johannesburg Lion Park, and a passionate wildlife conservationist. Fuhr had funded researchers in Botswana and Zambia and wanted to fund documentaries and a feature film about lions.

An invitation to Kevin to visit the park resulted in the young man getting to know two young lion cubs, Tau and Napoleon. Kevin was allowed to play with the cubs, and spent more and more time with them and other predators in the park.

While their keepers told him never to sit in the presence of growing cats – or turn his back on them – Kevin found that playing with them on the ground, at their level, rolling, clawing and sometimes even biting them back, helped him relate to them far better.

He also refused to go in with a stick. “I mean, if a fully-grown lion wants to eat you, what use is a stick?” Kevin says.

His unconventional methods at the park, where he eventually ended up working full-time, were mirrored in his search for a car.

“I contacted a guy called Rob Leimer, well known in South African Land Rover circles, and asked him if he knew anyone who had a Series One for sale,” says Kevin. “He told me I’d probably have no chance, though he did tell me about a guy in Muldersdrift who owned one.”

Kevin contacted the man who, rather bizarrely, said: “I’m not going to sell it, but you can come and have a look at it if you like.”

It was love at first sight for Kevin, but the lion keeper had to have his kid gloves on for this one. “The poor guy had been keeping the Land Rover for his son, but the boy grew up and went out and bought a Volkswagen Golf GTi; I think the old man disowned him,” Kevin recalls.

But the man had a list of questions for Kevin; an approach which made him think that the owner might choose to sell after all. “Why does a young guy like you want a Series One? It’s not the sort of car you can race around in every day, you know,” was the first question. And there were several more.

“Do you realise what the upkeep on a vehicle like this is? Where are you going to keep it? Is it for the lion park? You’re not going to bastardise it and turn it into a tour vehicle, are you?”

The vehicle had been his wife’s father’s car and he had inherited it. For years it had been the family’s daily runabout. It’s the luxury Series One; with tropical roof, leather panels in the doors and footwells, and a floor-mounted headlight dip switch. On its grille is an Automobile Association of Southern Rhodesia badge – itself collectable – and on the bonnet is an original, barely-used Dunlop Rhodesia 6-16 tyre.

“After three meetings the guy finally decided he may like to sell it to me, and asked how much I’d offer him. I had no idea what to say,” Kevin says.

A fellow lion keeper, a few years older than Kevin, told him to come up with an odd figure, to make it sound like he had scraped together every penny he owned – which wasn’t actually far from the truth.
Kevin took the advice – which was spot-on. His offer was accepted. “He just wanted to be sure it was going to a good home,” Kevin says. “Though he did make me sign a contract saying I’d give him first option on buying it back if I ever decided to sell it.”

A friend sourced a pair of South African National Parks stickers for the doors. While not authentic, they match the sand-coloured paint and look perfectly at home when Kevin motors into his lions’ enclosure.

Kevin is putting the finishing touches to his first feature film, White Lion, a dramatic story about a young cub growing up in the African bush. When he finishes the movie, he plans on carrying out his own restoration of the Series One, stripping it right back to bare metal and starting all over again to ensure it remains pristine.

For now, the Land Rover gets a regular workout up and down the steep, rocky sides of the Crocodile River valley on the short but challenging drive from Kevin’s lodge to the expansive enclosures where his lions, hyenas and leopards live.

“This is a bush vehicle and the bush is where it belongs.” Kevin states.

So it looks like the old man’s buy-back contract isn’t going to be needed any time soon.