Death of 'Lion Whisperer' Tony Fitzjohn who saved big cats

He was known as the Lion Whisperer and the Lion-Hearted man.

Fitzjohn worked at Kora National Park with lions and leopards and at Mkomazi Game Reserve in Tanzania on the black rhino and African wild dogs.

Conservationists have paid tribute to Fitzjohn who worked in Kenya and Tanzania.

Will Travers from the Bornfree Foundation termed him a lion-hearted man.

On their website, Travers wrote, “If you could bottle the spirit of adventure, a passion for wildlife and nature, a relentless determination to succeed against all odds, a rebellious streak, story-telling genius, a quick wit, a mercurial temperament, and a generous heart... you might get close to the essence of Tony Fitzjohn. Tony has gone and we have lost a little bit of the crazy magic that the world needs so badly.”

Wildlife Now's Tony Fitzjohn and George Adamson of the African Wildlife Preservation Trust said Filtzjohn had more than 50 years of successful rehabilitation and reintroduction of animals into the wild.

He worked with wildlife authorities to gain national park status for two game reserves and provided backup to management of national parks, among other achievements for over 25 years.

The trust said Fitzjohn was awarded the prestigious Order of the British Empire by the Prince of Wales in December 2006, for his outstanding work for the George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust in Tanzania.

According to an article published by True Travel, Fitzjohn started his animal conservation work in Kenya in 1971.

“He spent 18 years at Kora, a lion camp run by George Adamson, whose wife Joy Adamson wrote Born Free about their experiences.

He spent the next 31 years in Tanzania. There he transformed Mkomazi, a derelict game reserve, into a now-thriving national park with two black rhino sanctuaries and a thriving wild dog programme.

In 2016 he received an OBE for his hard work and has been the subject of the film To Walk With Lions, the article read.

(Edited by V. Graham)

“WATCH: The latest videos from the Star”