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What not to do on your safari
Bet you didn't experience wildlife like this when you were on your last wildlife safari. Marlice van Vuuren is a Namibian animal conservationist and a woman very familiar with the ways of the African cheetah. She should know, her last 34 years were spent growing up around animals in Namibia, and she currently runs the N/a'an ku sê Wildlife Sanctuary with her husband Rudie.
It's that sort of experience that's prepared her for this close interaction with wild cheetahs, no doubt mixed with a healthy dose of bravery and maybe a shred of craziness. Check out this video where van Vuuren gets off of her dirt bike and walks around among the wild cats, often advancing towards them and showing her dominance -- it's a pretty amazing show.
Unfortunately, the clip appears to be spoken in English, then dubbed in French, so here is a translation of what Marlice Van Der Merwe is saying about her encounter:
If I lower myself down to their level, they'll approach as we appear to be be of similar size ... I'm doing this to show how cowardly they are, not to tease them ... But also, to get a rush of adrenaline ... As soon as you turn your back on them, they attack ... As soon as you look them in the eyes, they're afraid of you ... If you run, you're prey. But, if you turn around, they stop ... I think they've had enough
Filed under: Africa, Namibia, Video, Transportation, Travel Health
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 12)
Elena May 3rd 2011 7:37AM
Girl 1
Cheetahs 0
THIS time! Yikes, I can't tell if this girl is incredibly brave or just insane!
John May 3rd 2011 10:45AM
Remember Steve Irwin. She will be killed doing this eventually. What an idiot.
jerabaub May 3rd 2011 7:39AM
She's a conservationist so I guess it is ok.
She is not killing them at long range with a rifle and scope like cowardly big game hunters from the U.S. do to lions.
Still, I would not advise her to do this with a pack of lions.
john gage May 3rd 2011 9:23AM
Actually, she does taunt a lion at 1:47 - 1:52. That is a liion in that shot. Amazing.
Jon May 3rd 2011 7:45AM
Breathtaking and life taking. Too many stories about people wanting to get "next to nature" and end up being digested.
Mynnia May 3rd 2011 2:37PM
She has been around those animals her whole life.
Dennis May 3rd 2011 7:50AM
Ya know....it's morons like you that give other guys a bad name. You are scum. Why don't you try to move up the food chain at least a little bit and act like a decent human being! You PIG!
Mynnia May 3rd 2011 2:38PM
"Move up the food chain" as in changing your own metabolism through will? Sorry, Lamarck's theory been disproved for approximately 150 years now and even with him it would be your children bearing the change.
You can't very well change beyong adaption of what is there already, your offspring can mutate and start eating different stuff.
How a food chain has a kind of "up" and "down" escapes me, though, since it's more like a food net with interconnections and things going both ways.
Or did you want to tell us to eat more predators, instead of just killing them as concurrency, as man is wont to do?
tronya May 3rd 2011 5:30PM
I would like to see her naked before they kill and eat her. What a waste.
guhteeno May 3rd 2011 7:50AM
This reminds me of that bear guy Werner Herzog made a film about. One of these days one of the cheetahs really is going to have enough and keep on lunging...oh well, when the pack drags her body away, tears it to hundreds of pieces, and licks her bones clean, at least it'll save her loved ones plenty in funeral expenses.
Dennis May 3rd 2011 7:53AM
GROW UP....FOOL! You sound like a 14 year old that just went through puberty.
Not again May 3rd 2011 7:57AM
Anyone spoken to her since the video.....LOL
Seriously remember Timothy Treadwell and his at one with the grizzlies.......she may meet him soon enough.
Leave the cats alone, so they don't have to die when they eat you.
Dean May 3rd 2011 8:03AM
Reminded me of the Herzog film too. Some people lack the basic fear mechanism that evolved for our survival. The woman probably doesn't have long for this world. If it aien't cats it'll be something else.
dworkenlaw1 May 3rd 2011 8:03AM
This woman is not brave, she is reckless.
As an expert conservationist, she clearly knows exactly what
to expect from these wild animals.
The problem? Tragedies happen from the UNexpected.
They happen when animals.............behave like animals.
Other posters were correct in mentioning countless other
'experts' in their particular area of animal husbandry or
study who ended up dead because their animal decided
to be unpredictable, as animals always do.
Word to the wise, Marlice. Stop acting like you own
these creatures, because one day they will own you.
Thank you for reading my post.
Patrick
Steven May 3rd 2011 9:57AM
I would love to see this video on the show 1000 ways to die because she is a stupid idiot for taunting these hungry animals.....
peggy May 3rd 2011 9:10AM
oh wow
Robi May 3rd 2011 8:13AM
These are obviously not 'wild' cheetahs. Cheetahs in the wild do not live in prides like lions and do not gather together in such large numbers. These cats obviously had contact with humans as a truly wild animal would not let a human approach that close, let alone pet it.
Amy May 3rd 2011 8:17AM
It's still insane but I think the article is misleading in as far as, I think these are cats from her Sanctuary. Wikipedia says these animals are wounded or can't be released into the wild. The article claims they're wild.
She's still a very brave woman! And apparently she DOES play with lions. Look...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIetHm5Werc
peggy May 3rd 2011 10:21AM
oh wow i want to be there
Patty May 3rd 2011 8:15AM
How stupoid can you get? I think this clip falls under harassing animals!