man-eater. I think a lot of people think I'm dancing with death. Naturally, one's going

to go, well this guy's crazy and it's only a matter of time before he gets eaten. The

instinct for an animal to kill or a lion specifically is always there and when they get into that

mode of kill ... one bite and you're dead. YOU WON'T FIND A LION ROAMING THE WILDS OF

AUSTRALIA AND YOU'LL NEVER FIND ANYONE LIKE THIS MAN.

KEVIN RICHARDSON: The truth is there is no other animal that will humble you quicker

than a lion. IF THE LATE STEVE IRWIN HAD A KINDRED SPIRIT,

IT WOULD BE KEVIN RICHARDSON. HE SHUNS THE COMPANY OF PEOPLE, INSTEAD HIS

LIFE CENTERS ON LIVING WITH ONE OF THE MOST FEROCIOUS PREDATORS ON THE PLANET.

KEVIN RICHARDSON: You know I might piss one of them off one day and he might take my head

off but so be it. TO UNDERSTAND KEVIN'S OBSESSION, I'VE TRAVELED

THOUSANDS OF KILOMETRES TO SOUTHERN AFRICA. KEVIN RICHARDSON: You get adventurers in the

world man, pioneers, explorers ... without them, without those people in the world, the

world would still be, you know, such a small little place. Christopher Columbus and all

these adventurers ... people must have though they were completely loony in their time.

LOONY AS IT MAY SOUND WE'RE HEADING STRAIGHT INTO LION TERRITORY.

KEVIN RICHARDSON: You get some of the prides are really grumpy and will eat you pretty

quickly but it's only a matter of time before one of them comes and investigates you and

the rest could be history. TIM NOONAN: You don't get nervous?

KEVIN RICHARDSON: No, no, I think if I was getting nervous after this period of time,

I think I would be sitting myself down and saying well what are you actually doing here.

KEVIN IS PREPARING TO WALK FREELY AMONG A PRIDE OF LIONS, WITH NO CAGE AND NO PROTECTION.

KEVIN RICHARDSON: You've always got to observe who looks like they're grumpy, who looks like

they're affable before you just go in there guns blazing.

AT THIS MOMENT HIS ONLY ARMED WITH A DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF ANIMAL INSTINCT AND LION

BEHAVIOR. KEVIN RICHARDSON: I'll announce myself ... you

know, I'll talk to them ... and so that they know it's me coming. I'll talk so that they

can hear my voice and at least then when you walk in they know what to expect.

BUT THEN SOMETHING INCREDIBLE HAPPENS ... THIS IS A LOVE STORY LIKE NO OTHER.

KEVIN RICHARDSON: This feared predator ... this lion, this killer, this man-eater has the

ability to show such love. FAR FROM BEING MINDLESS MAN-EATERS, KEVIN

BELIEVES THE LIONS HAVE A GENTLE SIDE THAT FEW KNOW ABOUT.

KEVIN RICHARDSON: What amazes me is they jump on me, gently, they don't unsheathe their

claws and when they bite me, it's gentle. BUT DON'T BE FOOLED ... THESE BIG CATS ARE

FAR FROM TAME. SO, I'M FILMING FROM THE SAFETY OF A CAGE AND AS I FOUND OUT, THEY DON'T TAKE

TOO KINDLY TO STRANGERS. TIM NOONAN: Anyone else would run a million

miles from these cats. When you walk up to them, what do you see?

KEVIN RICHARDSON: It's hard to explain what I see when I walk up to the lions because

to everyone else watching their mind obviously flicks back to documentaries of lions jumping

on the back of buffalos' backs and taking down wildebeest and zebra ... all these big

herbivores. So I think people have got that in their head. To me ... these are just my

... you know, my friends. KEVIN RICHARDSON: This is a consequence or

a result of 12 and a half years of constant bonding a brotherhood.

KEVIN'S FIRST CONTACT WITH LIONS WAS WHILE VOLUNTEERING AT A SOUTH AFRICAN WILDLIFE PARK.

THERE, HE MET TWO CUBS THAT CAPTURED HIS HEART ... AND HE WON THEIRS.

KEVIN RICHARDSON: I met these two lions, I fell in love with them, there was almost like

this bond, I became almost a brother, an honorary brother ... I began to realize that, you know,

you can't just look at all predators out there and say well that's how a lion behaves. They're

characters and that's what I wanted to get to know. You know I didn't wake up one morning

thinking I was going to go and save the big cats of Africa, it was more of a progression.

TODAY, HE OWNS A 1800 ACRE GAME RESERVE WHERE FOUR LION FAMILIES RUN WILD.

KEVIN RICHARDSON: Before I knew it there was 9, then there was 15, then there was 25, now

I'm sitting with 39. BUT ACROSS AFRICA, THEIR NUMBERS ARE PLUNGING.

HUNTED BY POACHERS, POISONED BY FARMERS, THEIR HABITAT BEING DESTROYED. THEY DON'T GET RELOCATED

... THEY JUST GET SHOT. KEVIN RICHARDSON: Lion numbers have dropped

by a staggering amount from around about, who knows, but from around about 300,000 about

15-20 years ago, down to about 20-23,000 to this day, which is horrific and means if it

continues to decline at that rate, in another 10-15 years ... goodbye to lions.

THAT'S WHY KEVIN IS PREPARED TO PUT HIS LIFE ON THE LINE TO RAISE AWARENESS OF THEIR DESPERATE

PLIGHT. TIM NOONAN: If they didn't know you, do you

think they might eat you? KEVIN RICHARDSON: The lions? For sure.

TIM NOONAN: What do you think they see you as?

KEVIN RICHARDSON: These lions definitely see me as more than just a human acting or being

an honorary pride member. But then on another occasion, you sit there and you realize that

they do see you as something different but just accepted you into their clique. So if

anyone else had to come here and try and do this, you know, they're not really part of

this group ... if anyone could understand the love they have for their pet ... I could

probably say times that by 10 (quite frankly, that's how you could get killed by a lion!

If he lies on top of you, he could crush you to death!). I'll swim with the lions in the

river, walk with them in the open areas amongst the game. I'll do most things that people

would do with their pet dog with the lions. THAT EVEN INCLUDES AFTERNOON NAPS ...

TIM NOONAN: Are there times when you're not welcome?

KEVIN RICHARDSON: Well there's times when you feel less welcome into a pride of lions

and there's times when you walk in there and you just feel like you rule the roost and

that everyone's just full of love and wanting a piece of you.

BUT THEIR VIOLENT INSTINCT IS JUST UNDER THE SURFACE THE WHOLE TIME. ONE WRONG MOVE AND

EVERYTHING CAN FLARE UP. KEVIN RICHARDSON: Sometimes that biting will

turn to real biting very quickly, so that's why I just nip it in the bud. If you react

badly and you start pulling or you start getting nervous or panicking he will bite down on

you. So you've got to just make him realize that you're not afraid of him and he can't

just bite your leg at will. TIM NOONAN: Have you been hurt?

KEVIN RICHARDSON: Yes, I get bitten, I get scratched, I get jumped on, my back gets put

out ... my shoulders ... fortunately I've never been hospitalized by a lion. That scar

there and there ... is really a lion of his size bit me accidentally. This K9 here the

top one went straight through to the bone almost. That was really a reaction, he got

a bit of a fright and he turned around and whack right through the arm.

TIM NOONAN: Do you worry that one day they might turn on you?

KEVIN RICHARDSON: No I don't worry about lions turning on me because the day that, that happens

and you start to think about one day will these lions turn on me you shouldn't be doing

it. Don't have any regrets, I live a no regrets policy in my life, so probably do it all the

same again if I was brought back down to Earth again, given a second chance. I like living

life, not just existing life and for me I'm truly living when I'm with the lions.