In a series of viral videos, a wildlife conservationist in Botswana, Southern Africa, is spotted receiving tender cuddles from a 9-year-old lion whom he’s raised since she was a cub. The enduring bond between the wildcat and the man who saved her life is warming hearts and astounding minds around the world.
“I think people are usually very emotionally touched by our bond, especially by the way Sirga hugs me,” Germany-born Valentin Gruener, 34, told The Epoch Times. “I guess it is always something special when a large and potentially dangerous predator can show so much affection for a person.”
Gruener, who has been living in Botswana for the past 12 years, is a private pilot who now runs his own conservation ground, Modisa Wildlife Projects, which works with tourism, wildlife management, conservation, and research.
The professional nature guide first met Sirga in 2012 while he was working as a caretaker for predators at Grassland Bushman Lodge in Botswana’s Kalahari Desert. Sirga was born there but had been abandoned under a bush by her mother when she was just 2 weeks old.
Gruener explained: “Sirga’s parents were so-called ‘problem lions’ who were predating on livestock ... they were captured and moved to the rehabilitation facility.
“It appears that Sirga’s siblings died, possibly due to other lions playing rough with them; in the wild, the mother would hide them away from the pride for about six weeks and introduce them, when they are strong enough, to the rest of the family, a scenario that was not possible in the camp where they were kept.”
Gruener got permission from the facility’s owner to save Sirga and hand-raise her himself. She has since moved to the 7,500-hectare Modisa property with Gruener, and other resident wildlife, where she has a 2,000-hectare reserve for herself.
Since the beginning, Sirga became very “imprinted” on Gruener.
“Sirga started to cuddle me only a few days after I started to care for her,” he recalled. “The hugs used to be me sitting down and her climbing up to get her little arms around my neck. Today, she stands much taller than me on her hind legs, and after a few seconds, I get sort of buried under her weight and we cuddle on the ground for a bit.”
The pair’s ritual happens every time they meet. Yet, Gruener is the only human allowed so close to the formidable wildcat.
After Sirga’s first antelope kill at 16 months old, her team prohibited contact with all people except Gruener, her sole caretaker. They became best friends, exploring the Kalahari on their daily walks together and sleeping outside under the elements.
The biggest sign of trust Sirga shows him, Gruener said, is that she’s never been on a leash, yet always follows him home. The fact that she has never seriously injured him or shown aggression of any kind, he added, surely speaks for itself.
However, he says that there are still some people who don’t trust the situation and believe that Sirga will one day eat him up.
“I am certain this will not be the case, and I guess the past nine years are a good indication that I may be correct,” Gruener said.
Besides her inseparable friendship with Gruener, Sirga has fared well being raised by a human. At 9, she has no scars, scratches, or parasites—“a wild lion can look pretty beaten up,” said Gruener—but is still able to stalk and chase prey, relax and sleep in the shade, and simply enjoy her life.
“I always tried to raise her as much as a ‘wild’ lion as possible, under the circumstances,” Gruener reflected. “This means I did not get her used to cars, buildings, or any other human things ... I am the only one who interacts with Sirga.”
Once a week, Gruener spends an entire day with his friend, exploring her new reserve. The now fully grown lion also receives a snack before each visit’s end, which happens a couple of times a week, so that her attention is diverted from Gruener’s departure. “Otherwise, she won’t let me leave,” he said.
Additionally, if livestock comes close to the reserve fences, or bushfires encroach, Sirga, who wears a GPS collar, moves back to her camp. Visitors to the reserve may watch her from a quiet distance in a safari vehicle, but may not come close.
Meanwhile, when Gruener is not around, his partner, Sarah, 33, and staff feed her equally unobtrusively by throwing a snack over the fence in the evening.
Although people who watch the two together are quite stirred by their relationship, he insists that raising a lion should be no one’s life goal. Nor will saving one lion solve Africa’s dwindling lion population. But with the publicity gleaned from sharing Sirga’s story, Gruener hopes to levy conservation efforts, educate guests and the general public, and have more resources to work with local communities in Botswana.
As for what’s in store, Gruener reveals that the reserve also plans to open a permanent environmental research base in partnership with scientists. He says this will give students from all over the world a platform to conduct their environmental research.
Sirga has given Gruener 10 years’ worth of work and responsibility, without breaks. But, the love they share is beyond compare. He reflected, “Sirga happened to me because she needed help; raising her gave her a good life, and me the experience of a lifetime.”
