Kenvin Richardson

Kenvin Richardson is a South African

zoologist and animal behavior scientist who
has spent many years living with lions in an
animal sanctuary outside Johannesburg. He
has established such love and trust with the
animals that he is considered to be one of
the family. Kevin never worries about the
danger of being so close to the lions, though
if you watch him lie down with three or four
huge lions, you wonder if maybe he should!
He knows their personalities in the same
way as a mother knows about her children,
and has written books and documentaries
about his experiences. His fascinating film,
White Lion, follows a story of how a very
special lion survived in the spite of the
problems he faced.
Ruth Muniz López
The harpy is the largest and the most
powerful eagle on earth. It weighs up to nine
kilos and eats monkeys for its lunch! It is
also extremely rare and in danger of
extinction. Ruth Muniz, a Spanish biologist,
is the director of the Harpy Eagle
Conservation Programme. She has worked
many years in the rainforests of Ecuador,
leading team to help research and protect the
birds. Although Ruth’s work involves
climbing trees and catching the eagles, she
has never had a serious injury. She took part
in a pioneering expedition in 2007 which
involves catching a wild harpy eagle and
tagging it with a GPS system. Her job is a
real challenge that is only for experts!
Shaun Ellis
Shaun Ellis, the wolfman, has spent his life
studying wolves and has live with wild
packs for long periods of time. In order to be
accepted he acts like them, eats with them
and communicates with them by howling.
When the beasts eat, Shaun joins too, but his
meat has been specially cooked for him and
placed inside a plastic bag! The National
Geographic has made I film about Shaun’s
experiences. A Man Among Wolves is about
how he managed to integrate himself in a
pack and what he learned about wolves
during this time. Even though he has been
badly scratched on several occasions, he has
never been seriously hurt. Nowadays Shaun
runs courses on wolf pack management at an
animal park in the UK.
Timothy Treadwell
For fourteen seasons Timothy Treadwell, a
bear enthusiast and eco-warrior, lived with
grizzly bears in the Katmai National Park in
Alaska. His aim in living with the bears was
want to protect them from hunters. As part
of this work he set up The Grizzly People,
an organization dedicated to bear protection.
Despite the fact that Timothy has a deep
understanding of bears, his story ended in
tragedy. In 2003, new bears that he and his
girlfriend moved into the area where they
were living and killed them both. His story
has since been made into a film called
Grizzly Man which uses some of the scenes
that Timothy filmed when he was observing
the bears.
Who…
1…has made films about their lives or the
animals they work with?
2…works with an animal that is in danger of
extinction?
3…has taken part in a unique conservation
project?
4…protected animals from hunters?
5…has made a film about a very special
animal?
6…behaves like the animals they work with
to be accepted by them?