02 Mar Larenty and the Lion
The photograph paused my scrolling through the news. A magnificent lion was on its back, its golden mane catching the light of the setting sun. The lion’s feet were up in the air. Its tongue was sticking out and its body was slack. Standing to one side was a portly, middle aged man who proudly held one of the lion’s giant hind paws as he grinned.
I frowned. I did not like it one bit that he was smiling over this magnificently stretched out and vulnerable king of the jungle while looking so boastful.
Reading the text below the photo, I realized what I thought I was seeing wasn’t correct at all. It wasn’t a hunting photo. In fact, it was the opposite.
The man in the photo was Alex Larenty, an animal behaviorist and lion tamer. He lives on a game reserve in South Africa. One day, years ago, while gently applying a cream to cure a foot infection on a lion, he discovered that the lion relaxed and appeared to smile. Since then, when visiting the lions to provide daily care and treat ailments, he began offering foot massages to the lions who wished to lumber over for some paw pampering. The lions signal their wishes by lying down with their legs outstretched.
It’s a relationship built on trust, respect and an awareness, as Larenty warns, that “a lion is still a lion.”
Vulnerability often accompanies compassion. It reminded me of the fable credited to Aesop, where a man took a thorn out of a lion’s paw. A kindness done in spite of risk and uncertainty. A decision to move toward something scary, knowing it has the potential to transform into joy.
In the same way that a lion is still a lion, people are still people. And sometimes, when helping others, we also take these risks – to choose optimism, give the benefit of the doubt or offer forgiveness. A balance of trust and respect.