Now let's go to South Africa, where a zoo-keeper has earned himself the nickname - The Lion Whisperer. A self-taught animal behaviourist, he has broken every safety rule, when working with the wild animals. CGTN's Yolisa Njamela has more.

Meet Kevin Richardson. This is the man who interacts with some of Africa's apex predators - up close and personal. Predators that include lions, hyenas and black leopards.

KEVIN RICHARDSON THE KEVIN RICHARDSON WILDLIFE SANCTUARY "For me, the difficulty of being with these apex predators is knowing what's happening to their cousins in captivity and the wild. So I look at the lions in my care and I know that they live in a safe haven and they generally all live good lives and they are fulfilled and enriched."

Richardson is the owner of the Kevin Richardson Wildlife Sanctuary. The sanctuary's mission is to provide a self-sustaining African carnivore sanctuary for the purposes of wild species preservation. Here, he has twenty-six lions, twelve spotted hyenas, two stripped hyenas and four black leopards. Unlike for many of us, these predators are not scary or induce a sense of fear for Richardson. Instead, they're family.

KEVIN RICHARDSON THE KEVIN RICHARDSON WILDLIFE SANCTUARY "Yes, there is truth in the fact that you always need to bare in mind that there are apex predators and they have instincts but over the years working with them, you learn to work with their instincts. I use the analogy of flying, we all understand that flying aeroplanes is potentially dangerous but we understand if we can work around the weather and the performance factors of the plane and fuel and all of these kinds of things that can happen. We realise that actually at the end of the day are relatively safe."

Through education, outreach and funding, Richardson's mission is to bring awareness to the rapid decline of large carnivores in Africa. The loss is due to habitat loss, human-predator conflict, the illegal bush meat trade, unscrupulous hunting, disease, and illegal trade.

And then there're hyenas. Hyenas are highly intelligent, social animals who are generally known as scavengers, although in truth they are formidable predators.

KEVIN RICHARDSON THE KEVIN RICHARDSON WILDLIFE SANCTUARY "When you start to see that cute nice face, you don't suddenly see hyenas as been such bad evil, horrible animals. A lot of people who see them, say wow I didn't know they were so beautiful."

Richardson's unique relationship with some of Africa's top predators has opened many doors for him and have captivated the imagination of many people throughout the world.