A series of images captures the touching moment a cheetah approached and hugged a wildlife photographer. Another photographer captured the encounter, which demonstrates how friendly these large wild cats can be.
Regardless, this isn’t the first time this fortunate photographer has had the opportunity to cuddle with a wild cat!
Sasan Amir, a German photographer, was visiting a South African wildlife refuge when a cheetah chose to surprise him in the cutest way possible.
When the enormous cat calmly approached him and placed its head on him, the 27-year-old photographer was intent on snapping some shots.
“I slowed down my motions, stood up, and gazed at the cheetah to show it that I was aware that he was approaching me,” Amir told CATERS NEWS.
“The cheetah was intrigued and approached gently, sniffing me at first, before purring and rubbing his head against me.”
The friendly cheetah caught the man completely off guard!
“It took a few minutes for me to understand what a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that was,” he explained. “I’d been to this refuge a few times before and realised this cheetah was used to human interaction.”
But this isn’t Amir’s first encounter with something like this. He’s been photographing large wild cats for almost five years.
