A wildlife photographer who was attempting to snap pictures of a cheetah at a nature reserve in South Africa got more than he bargained for when the wild animal approached him head-on.
Casey Mannes, 30, who originally hails from West Michigan, hosts wildlife retreats across the world throughout the year.
Early this year, Mr. Mannes noticed that a cheetah—which had stomach issues and was living in an animal sanctuary as it wouldn’t be able to survive in the wild on its own—approached him while he was snapping pictures.
However, Mr. Mannes stressed that he’d never recommend anyone try to replicate such a close encounter. Mr. Mannes said one of the reasons he thinks the cheetah was so friendly is because it currently lives alone.
“It doesn’t get to interact with other cheetahs; it doesn’t get to be social,” he said. “I would never interact with a cheetah that was in a reserve that was planned on being released back into the wild. Habituating wildlife like that to humans is a dangerous thing to do.
“I never had a goal to become a wildlife photographer,” he said. “I just wanted to be in nature, and experience these creatures and do everything I could to try to help them as much as possible.”
Mr. Mannes moved to the backcountry of Alaska when he was 20. He spent summers flying bush planes and enjoyed spending time with wildlife and taking photos of them.
Having been clean for the last 10 years, Mr. Mannes has succeeded in shifting his energy from drugs and alcohol to the awe-inspiring power of the natural world. The excitement he gains is not derived from putting himself in dangerous situations where an animal feels threatened, but rather from maintaining a respectful distance and recognizing the potential danger.
“I do a lot of work down in Bolivia for jaguars and ocelots,” he said, “and numerous monkey species. People think these animals would be good pets, and they take them out of the wild as babies and habituate them to be house pets.”
To the young Mr. Mannes, such a touching moment shared with a cheetah would have seemed like a distant dream. For the adult photographer, the cheetah demonstrating affection was something completely unforgettable.