These daredevil wildlife trainers dice with death every day - by teaching wolves and tigers to hunt.

Workers at the Out of Africa wildlife park in Camp Verde, Arizona, wear no protective gear as they run around with the vicious predators and train them to attack.

The only thing saving them from being attacked by their charges is the bond of trust that stops them being transformed into a quick meal. 

Claws for concern? A trainer at the Out of Africa wildlife park in Camp Verde, Arizona, gets up close and personal with a tiger, whom he is teaching to hunt so he can perform in a show

Despite bearing scars from times when when the over-excited animals have lashed out in the past, the trainers continue to coax the 400kg animals into attack mode.

They wave man-shaped dummies and bags of balloons to encourage the tigers to leap at them - and even use themselves as bait by diving into a swimming pool in front of them.

Out of Africa keeps Bengal and Siberian tigers, both of which performer in the daily Tiger Splash show, where they show the full extent of their predatory power for the benefit of amazed visitors.

Drama: The trainer throws inflatable toys into the air, which the white tiger savages in a mock hunt. He wears no safety gear, and trusts that the tiger likes him enough not to attack

Resemblance: Here the tiger is encouraged to maul a doll designed to look exactly like a human

Other pals: The park also keeps a pack of wolves, with whom they also play hunting games. Pictured are park owner Dean Harrison and his wife Prayeri

Face-to-face: Mr and Mrs Harrison play with the wolves, who stand over them.  The two consider the predators their friends

Park owner Dean Harrison said: 'The tigers have to make a decision whether they are going to hunt us and eat us or whether they are just going to play with us as a companion.

'Play is an instinct. The play instinct is the primary instinct for hunting.

RELATED ARTICLES

• Previous
• 1
• Next

• Back from the brink! Endangered Amur tiger makes history by... Panda Claus: Giant pandas Jia Jia and Meng Meng frolic in... Taxidermist is jailed for trading in endangered species... Would you stay overnight at the ZOO? Sydney's Taronga...

Share this article

'You don't want to hurt the ones you love so therefore the objective becomes to love those who are around you, so that you can actually play with them'.

Park coordinator Meg Ruff admitted: 'The cats have all their teeth and all their claws.

Tempting fate? A park worker is pictured waving a sack of balloons in such a way that it coaxes the tiger to run towards her in a hunting pose

Nips and cuts: Park worker Daniel Nichols is one of several workers who has been bitten and clawed by the animals during the training

Marks: Mr Nichols shows off a scar he gained while wrangling with the tigers

'When interacting with all dangerous animals we operate between the instincts of love and fear. The idea is to operate in the love portion of our instinctual programs, so that the relationships can be formed.

'The fear part of the journey is when the animal becomes defensive or perhaps overly offensive. That's when they want to eat us.'

The team also carries out mock hunting with their resident pack of wolves. Prayeri Harrison, Mr Harrison's wife, said: 'They would defend us with their lives if they felt they needed to.

'As we lay with the wolves and we are there for them in their lives, they end up loving us automatically. And then we don't offend in any other way. We become friends.' 

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKaVrMBwrdGtoJyklWKAdIGVaWxvZ3SWv6awxK%2BgpWWnnrmluMifnGavn6e4pr7SZquemZOderi7y6%2BcrGWknrSmvtJmf46GhGLBs8HSrWSsmZaae6nAzKU%3D