‘Part of the Pride’ reveals man-lion connection

In “Part of the Pride: My Life Among the Big Cats of Africa,” animal custodian and self-taught behaviorist Kevin Richardson recounts the story of how he made connections with and came to be accepted by lions. The following is an excerpt.

“Tsavo! Come, boy.”

His ears went back. The skin on his face went taut as he snarled. He puffed his body up, in the way lions do when they mean business. It was as if he was standing on his tiptoes, trying to make himself look even bigger and grander than he truly was. Then he charged.

Tsavo came at me at such a pace that I wouldn’t have had a chance of getting out of the enclosure if I’d run. I just had to stand there and wait for whatever came. My family, I later learned, were thinking that this was all part of the gig. “Wow, this is so cool,” one of the kids on the truck said.

Tsavo stopped a couple of paces from me, raising a cloud of dust and loose grass. He reared up on his hind legs and at that point he stood about seven feet high. I’m not a particularly tall guy and Tsavo dwarfed me as he blocked out my view of the sky. When he swiped at me with his huge calloused paw he was striking downwards, at my face.

In my troubled teen years I was a bit of a fighter, but that blow from Tsavo was harder than the hardest smack I’ve ever had in my life. Such was the size of the paw and the weight behind it, the swipe felt like three fists hitting me at once and when he connected the blood exploded from my nose, spraying all over my shoulder and shirt. The driving force of the hit pushed me backwards, but the fence behind me stopped me from falling.

Part of the Pride book cover

I don’t really remember what happened next — whether he dragged me or I rolled away from what I knew was coming — but we ended up in the middle of the enclosure with me on my back and Tsavo straddling me.

“I think Kevin might be in trouble,” my sister, Corrine, said to my brother-in-law Trevor on board the truck.

“No, Kev’s fine. He knows what he’s doing,” said Trevor, who later told me he hadn’t seen the blood pouring from my face at that point. They thought it was still play time, but this was something I hadn’t encountered before, the full fury and strength of an angry male lion.

Tsavo started biting me. He sank his canines into my leg and when he raised his head for the next strike I reached up and used my fingers to push the skin of his cheek between his teeth so he couldn’t bite down again without cutting into himself. I’d never heard of this being done — it was instinctive — but what do you do when a lion is trying to eat you? Anything you can think of.

He weighed so much that I couldn’t move and for a while it was like Tom and Jerry — a cat playing with a mouse. If the mouse moves, the cat strikes, but if the mouse stays still the cat loses interest temporarily. However, even though I kept rigid, Tsavo became restless and attacked me again. He bit me on the leg, calf and shoulder, but each time he released his hold on me as soon as I pushed the skin of his cheek into his mouth again.

Tsavo’s canine teeth were so wide apart that when he grabbed my upper arm the teeth grazed down either side of the muscle. My leg, however, was a bigger target and the sharp points tore through my trousers and drove into the skin once more.

More in Biographies and memoirs Hulk Hogan: Why I almost killed myself Seriously! Beer sparked Norm’s ‘Cheers’ career   Images: Home sweet home

I was lying bleeding in the dust and my relatives were now climbing down out of the caged truck, running to the fence and screaming. My family knew this was no longer part of any show, and Uncle Kevin was most likely dying in there. It seemed like an eternity that Tsavo had been standing over me, but it may have only been seconds.

The lion lowered his massive, shaggy head to my groin and hooked one of his curved, yellowed teeth under the stout leather belt on my trousers. As he lifted me clear off the ground my back arched and I thought: “Oh s--t! Here we go…”

MORE FROM TODAY BOOKS: BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIRS

Andre Agassi: I have the body of an old man

Andre Agassi: I have the body of an old man Former Miss California: I was smeared How dog poop led to love for Paula Deen After having 15 abortions, motherhood saved her Book excerpt: Testimony of an abortion addict Alan Thicke on raising kids who won’t hate you ‘Full House’ star writes about meth, coke binges Parents share diary of child’s cancer battle How America can get 'Smart on Crime' Hulk Hogan: Why I almost killed myself   Add Today Books: Biography/Memoirs headlines to your news reader: