Part of the Pride (34 page)

There were some things I did on the film simply because I knew that if I didn't do them, then they wouldn't get done. For example, I recorded sound effects up close with the lions that were later added to the film. I can go up to Napoleon and hold a small digital recorder next to his mouth when he roars, but a sound effects guy with a big microphone on a boom pole covered in a fluffy noise baffle can't do that, mainly because the lion will either try and eat the microphone or the sound guy. Rodney Fuhr had way more confidence in my
own abilities than I did, which was how I ended up getting involved in everything from the script to the music score. I don't want to be in that position again.

I lost relationships during the making of
White Lion
, but others became stronger. I have a stronger relationship with Tau, Napoleon, and Thor because of the time we all spent together on the set, and because of the way I worked with them in the light of my experience with Letsatsi. Mandy and I always had a strong partnership, but she stood by me through the tough times and our love grew even stronger during the years I worked on the film.

Mandy was a martyr, putting up with all the crap I unloaded on her at the end of each day. We got married during the last season of filming, and no, there were no lions present at the ceremony or the reception.

I stopped working at the Lion Park once filming on
White Lion
began, and although I had a lot on my plate I had to work hard to keep up my relationships with the animals there—and with my wife. We would start filming early in the morning, before dawn, in order to be ready to film in the golden hours, and then spend hours packing up after the sun had set. The opposite held true for night shoots. I was spreading myself too thin, and it is only because of the good grace of Mandy and the animals I love that I retained my sanity and the love and friendship of those most dear to me.

Even though the film is finished now, my life is still busy, but I still take time to sit on my stoop, gaze out over the Crocodile River, and reflect on how lucky and blessed I have been in my life so far.

My relationships with the lions and other animals have changed and grown over the years. There have been hiccups, but we've become closer and we've learned from each other. It's the same, in many respects, as my relationship with Mandy. First there was the wow factor, the infatuation of meeting and being with someone new. Then came learning about each other, what we liked, what we
didn't, what pleased us, what upset us. It continues, of course, as relationships are never stagnant.

Of course, sometimes with lions the adrenaline resurfaces, such as with Maditau's series of threatening charges at me when I rescued Tabby's cub from her. That may have had something to do with how her perceptions of me have changed. As I've said, I believe Tau and Napoleon treat me as a brother but know I am not a lion, so they hold back a little when we play. Meg and Ami think I am a lion and they treat me every bit as rough as they do each other. Perhaps Maditau, having been the first of the lionesses to welcome me into the pride, now thinks she can treat me like any other lion that wants to take possession of something she has claimed as her own. Being part of the pride means respecting and abiding by its rules, I suppose.

There are still plenty of people in South Africa, and now, thanks to the Internet and the documentaries and the film, around the world, who will look at the way I interact with the lions and shake their head. They will either choose to believe there is some form of trickery at play, or that there is no relationship between the animals and me. These are the people who tell me that one day one of my animals will “snap” and kill me.

As I said before, if I died in such an attack and the good Lord said he would give me a second chance—rewind the last ten years and do something different with my life—I wouldn't. Animals have always been a strong part of my life, since my dad rescued that first tiny stray kitten from the rubbish dump. They have helped me mature as a person and taught me so much about life and the way it should be lived. I like to think I have enriched their lives as they have mine.

Having raised so many lion and hyena cubs, and experienced the joys of watching Maditau and Tabby and Pelo bring their babies into the world, and of seeing Tau, Napoleon, Meg, and Ami and the many other animals in my care grow and mature, I am quite keen to start a pride of my own one day soon. So is Mandy.