Wildlife worker dubbed Tiger King of Instagram is filmed punching a lion cub

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Wildlife worker dubbed Tiger King of Instagram is filmed punching a lion cub 

An Instagram star who shares terrifying videos of himself playing with lions is being investigated for alleged animal cruelty after he was filmed punching one of his cubs.

Dean Schneider, 27, who quit his job as a financier in Switzerland to look after a pride of lions at a wildlife sanctuary in South Africa, uploaded a clip of himself striking a cub after it used its claws to scratch his shoulder. 

The footage, taken last year, has now been shared with South Africa’s national animal welfare agency which said it had been ‘inundated’ with complaints. 

Schneider, who runs the Hakuna Mipaka Oasis reserve, has been compared to Joe Exotic, the anti-hero of Netflix documentary series Tiger King, after attracting almost seven million followers on Instagram by sharing pictures and videos of himself frolicking about with the supposedly dangerous wild animals.  

But what goes on at his park is shrouded in secrecy, according to Douglas Wolhunter of the national society for the prevention of cruelty to animals. 

‘My main mission is to bring animals into people’s hearts to inspire and educate people globally about the animal kingdom.

Dean Schneider, 27, who quit his job as a financier in Switzerland to look after a pride of lions at a wildlife sanctuary in South Africa, uploaded a clip of himself striking a cub after it used its claws to scratch his shoulder

He told The Times it had been difficult to investigate Schneider due to a ‘lack of transparency at the park’. 

Defending Schneider, a spokesman said that as he was in close contact with wild animals he ‘needs to communicate his boundaries’. 

He added: ‘Dean has a deep love for his animals and wildlife in general and would never use unnecessary force of any kind.’      

In March, Schneider – who was not trained before building his private zoo – spoke of what life was like working with lions.  

‘I wouldn’t call it playing with lions,’ he said. ‘Because it’s more living with lions, and being part of their pride.

‘And yes, one part of it is, of course, playing – the same as we humans also like to play with one another. But there are a lot of other serious situations that I’m also part of and this is why I actually don’t like to promote what I’m doing as just playing with lions.

‘It’s definitely not a good idea to play with lions!’

Defending Schneider, a spokesman said that as he was in close contact with wild animals he ‘needs to communicate his boundaries’

Despite the fact he spends much of his days since moving to South Africa frolicking with strong, toothsome beasts, Schneider says he’s never scared.

‘The moment I would start to be scared of them is the moment I would stop walking in there,’ he says.

‘Because fear is the last thing you should show when you’re around them. It’s anyway a fact that we only fear what we don’t know. As soon as you know something or you’re aware of a situation, even though the situation can be dangerous, you’re not scared of it.

‘With lions, I know exactly how they think and how they work. I’m communicating constantly with them when I’m spending time with them. So there was never a situation where I was scared, even when they hurt me.

‘Getting hurt by a lion while spending time with them is totally normal.’

However, even Schneider would stop short of interacting with really wild animals.

‘You can definitely not pull it off in the wild and this will never be possible because hyenas live also in clans and if something could be a threat to them or there is something to eat around them, they are going to kill you.

‘Same as with the lions and even with my animals, no matter if they are out of captivity or not.

‘If you would just walk in there to Dexter and the pride or Chuckie the hyena by yourself, they would most probably kill you. ‘

‘It doesn’t matter if they are in the wild or captivity’

‘You can’t just go to a hyena clan or a lion pride simply with some talking and movements trying to get part of it.

‘You have to grow into it, you have to know them from small on and then you can do things like that. Otherwise this will never work.’

In March, Schneider – who was not trained before building his private zoo – spoke of what life was like working with lions

Schneider has previously pointed out his role is not that of an authority figure in the animal’s eyes

Amazingly, Schneider never trained or even practised before getting stuck in with his animals.

‘It is hundred percent natural. They look at me like a brother, like a part of their family.’

Schneider was quick to point out his role is not that of an authority figure in the animal’s eyes.

‘They don’t look at me like a teacher or a boss. There is no chance I could tell Dexter or one of my animals to walk there or to sit down or to do this and that. They will look at me and think like what is this guy talking about.

‘I’m not training these animals, I’m just basically living with them.’

Communication, according to Schneider, is key: ‘I learn their language and I speak in their language.

‘Most of it is based on body language of course because every movement you do is like a word or a sentence.

‘So even when you move your eyeballs or your head into a certain direction whilst the rest of your body doesn’t move, that means already something and that is already a sign to them.

And it’s actually the body language which makes the magic.

‘The more you understand them, the more you can communicate with them clearly. I think that’s the secret.’

‘In my opinion, they are even cleverer or more intelligent than we humans are, because our superintelligence makes us stupid.’

Schneider has put a lot of thought into how his lions perceive the world.

‘Lions break everything down into a simple picture and this makes them often very wise as they think situations.

‘They build incredible strategies. You can see the way they try to approach something when they have a goal, when they want to get to a place, when they want to jump on you or when they want to do something else.

‘Lions set up a certain strategy and you can see that. You can see the entire process of how they are getting to their goal. And this is just amazingly intelligent for me.’ 

His reserve has however proved to be a costly enterprise.

‘Maintaining the Hakuna Mipaka Oasis is combined with high costs. This includes building camps, feeding animals, paying vet bills and much more.

‘I also have a specific project called the “Live Wild” project. My property is in total 360 hectares big and I want to contribute the main part of my property (300 hectares), which would be the back of the farm, to the lion pride so that they can live and hunt by themselves and live as wild as possible.

‘But to do that, I need to build a second fence around the permit fence. Otherwise, I wouldn’t get permission to do that.’ 

Source: Daily Mail

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