WILLIE Labuschagne’s children didn't know that their home life was unusual until they went to boarding school and realised that not everyone grows up with a lion cub.
This is just one of the many nuggets the internationally recognised conservationist shared with Sunday Tribune this week.
Labuschagne who devoted 50 years of his life to the conservation of threatened species has just released his latest book, Of Man and Beast.
In the 288 pages he details some of the heart stopping, zany and emotional experiences he experienced in his career. It comes two years after his first book, The Soul of a Lion.
“I've had some incredible experiences, good, bad, humorous and it's full of suspense with both animals and people," he said.
He said writing the books helped him to rediscover his life and the many memorable experiences he had over the years.
“As far as dangerous situations, I was nearly killed by lions in the Kalahari and in Gorongosa by a storming elephant,” he said.
Labuschagne said that at one time he approached a carcass in the Kalahari and didn't know that it was being guarded by a lion behind a stone wall.
“I had nothing with me. I was on foot and I just walked back very slowly to my Land Rover. People say I have nine lives, I said I know more than nine lives,” he laughed.
While working on a conservation project for Zaire’s ( since renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo) former President Mobutu Sese Seko the country's government mistook him for a representative from South Africa.
Labuschagne was called into a meeting to give an update to the then Zaire’s cabinet ministers, DGs and business people who wanted to know about Mandela and PW Botha. He said a few weeks prior to that, Zaire had sent a delegation to South Africa and thought that he was there to update them.
“I still didn't know who the hell these people were or who the hell I'm supposed to be. I could make a decision by saying, no, I have no news, and they probably would have shot me and sent me to the crocodiles,” said Labuschagne.
Instead he confirmed that he had news for them but instead of a briefing he told everyone to ask questions.
“So that way I could get myself out of this sh*t and I had a standing ovation,” he said.
However when the South African delegation arrived in Zaire three weeks later they were told that the government was happy with Labuschagne’s update and that negotiations had been successful.
He also recalled how Australia, went against their own strict policies and gave him a koala bear to bring to South Africa as a gift for Nelson Mandela. Once the bear was housed in a zoo back home, Madiba and his grandchildren went to visit it.
His varied career also included a stint in the United Arab Emirates after its late president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, head hunted him to manage his private department of nature conservation.
“It's a fantastic experience. You know, I continued to do what I did here in South Africa. I had my braai place, I watched the rugby and we had a wonderful friendship. We had 29 different nations in our organization, from Russia to Kazakhstan to Yemen. I enjoyed every day of it.”
Labuschagne started his career as a zoologist at the Johannesburg Zoological Gardens where he was later promoted to director.
In 1985 he was appointed the executive director of the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa and in 1989 he launched the Pan-African Association of Zoological Gardens, Aquaria and Botanic Gardens.
He has received many awards including the Heini Hediger Award for his contribution to the progression of zoological gardens around the world.