This Wildlife Photographer Was Taken By Surprise When He Got A Hug From A Cheetah

I don't think many of us would know how to react in this situation, but this photographer sure did.

Daphnie

• Published in Animal Stories
• October 1, 2022

We hear about wildlife photographers seeing some really crazy and awesome things throughout their careers, but sometimes it's always better to see the proof to get a good idea of what the situations were really like.

Luckily for this story, we actually have photos of this adorable, once-in-a-lifetime situation. The wildlife photographer Sasan Amir was out at a sanctuary just doing what the does taking photos of the wildlife when this cheetah completely took him by surprise.

While the photographer was taking shots of another animal or object he noticed this cheetah coming up to him and what happened is to be a bit unexpected.

The cheetah actually approached him calmly and initiated a bit of cuddling and a hug. I think many of us wouldn't even know what to do in a situation like this, but the photographer realized that he probably won't have another interaction like this, so he savored it.

Stories like these make us wonder how photographers are so calm and are able to be in another territory to capture shots, especially knowing that anything like this can happen. We can assume that Sasan is a bit used to it and he was familiar with that area.

However, let's get into some of these amazing photos that they captured of the surprising moment.

Here's a photo directly from Sasan's Instagram that shows this encounter very well.

Sasan Amir is a German photographer that was visiting a South African sanctuary to capture some shots when an unexpected friend came up to him for some cuddles.

Here's a great quote from Sasan explaining the experience.

“I‌ ‌slowed‌ ‌down‌ ‌my‌ ‌movements‌ ‌and‌ ‌stood‌ ‌up‌ ‌and‌ ‌looked‌ ‌at‌ ‌the‌ ‌cheetah‌ ‌to‌ ‌show‌ ‌it‌ ‌I‌ ‌was‌ ‌aware‌ ‌that‌ ‌he‌ ‌was‌ ‌coming‌ ‌towards‌ ‌me,” ‌Amir told CATERS NEWS. “The‌ ‌cheetah‌ ‌was‌ ‌curious‌ ‌and‌ ‌came‌ ‌slowly‌ ‌closer‌ ‌and‌ ‌sniffed‌ ‌me‌ ‌at‌ ‌first,‌ ‌and‌ ‌then‌ ‌began‌ ‌to‌ ‌purr‌ ‌and‌ ‌rub‌ ‌his‌ ‌head‌ ‌against‌ ‌me.”

This photo shows just how adorable this encounter was. Here's a bit more from Sasan on the cheetah and how he recognized him from previous visits.

“It‌ ‌took‌ ‌a‌ ‌few‌ ‌minutes‌ ‌for‌ ‌me‌ ‌to‌ ‌realize ‌what‌ ‌a‌ ‌once-in-a-lifetime ‌moment‌ ‌that‌ ‌was,”‌ he said. “I‌ ‌had‌ ‌visited‌ ‌this‌ ‌sanctuary‌ ‌a‌ ‌few‌ ‌times‌ ‌and‌ ‌noticed‌ this‌ ‌cheetah‌ ‌was‌ ‌used‌ ‌to‌ ‌interactions‌ ‌with‌ ‌humans.”

This is quite unexpected for even the most known wildlife photographer because wild animals aren't this trusting.

Even Sasan admits that he was seen this cheetah before and he's had encounters with other large cats, but it takes wild animals quite a while before they trust a human this way.

Clearly, this cheetah has had many human encounters for it to be this comfortable coming up to Sasan.

Here's another story that Sasan has experienced to give you an idea of what he's seen during his journey.

“Once, a leopard was hiding in some thick bushes, he was close to me, he looked straight at me and then slowly started to take a nap,” Amir explained to the METRO. “He realised that I wasn’t dangerous to him in any way and I really enjoyed that he was so comfortable with me.”

This story is just one of many that wildlife photographers have after seeing some of the wildest and large animals in their natural habitat. Many of us wouldn't know how to react, but clearly, the cheetah felt Sasan's calming nature.

Daphnie