If you ask any wildlife enthusiast, they would tell you that large felines such as lions, tigers, or cheetahs rule in terms of the most dangerous animals out there. Even though they lie beyond our imagination in terms of beauty, many people won’t even dream of going near these ferocious animals.
However, the fact that these animals are dangerous did not stop Armand from interacting with them on a daily basis. In fact, Armand Gerber and his wife, Beatrice spend most of their time in the company of these animals.
The couple runs the Iron Throne Predator and Wildlife Park in South Africa, 200 acres of the sanctuary. The sanctuary is home to lions, tigers, leopards, and a cheetah who live happily among other rescued animals.
“All the animals here are captive-born, 90 percent of them remain raised by us – but the most important thing is that eight of our lions come from a facility that was closed down for bad publicity. In our eyes, they’re rescues,” Armand says. “They’ve got a forever home. I’ve had to defend the fact that we own lions every day, but if I could, I would own all the captive lions in the world.”
The saying ‘once a cat, always a cat’ stands true! As Armand says, all his feline friends love one thing and that is to be cuddled! And of course, they love to play with their human friend all day long too!
Armand is aware of the fact that working with these felines, who are very large predators, is extremely dangerous. However, he says that he is willingly doing what he is doing. Also, he did not fail to mention that these wild animals should be treated with the utmost respect.
“Some people think I’m crazy for doing this job. Some people think I’m testing my fate. You must remember, I do this for a living and I do it out of love and trust. I forget how fortunate I am to be able to work and love these animals. They’re my family,” Armand said!
Image Credit & More Info; Armand Gerber/Facebook | Facebook | Armand Gerber/Instagram
Source credit: https://whatzviral.com/man-spends-time-cuddling-tigers-lions/
