Max Strong, 26, from Louisville, Kentucky boasts over 253K followers on his Instagram page @maxstrong where he posts amazing pictures of himself travelling the world and meeting all kinds of animals in their element.
Max has gotten up-close and personal with some of the world’s most dangerous animals, uploading incredible pictures of himself petting and cuddling lions, tigers, hyenas, cheetahs and bears.
Other snaps show him mingling with animals in their enclosures, including monkeys, snakes, crocodiles and sharks.
Max had a love for animals ever since he was a little boy and would often venture out to look for fish, turtles and snakes in a creek near his home.
Now, the 26-year-old is not afraid to friendly with any animal – but said it takes time to build a relationship with them so they feel comfortable with him.
Each animal is different even if they are the same species, Max said, as it boils down to whether the creature trusts you in their presence.
He said: “Establishing good relationships with animals is all about time.
“You have to put in the time. Every animal is different. Some might take days or weeks, others years – but there’s no rushing it.
“They have to know that you’re not a threat to them. They have to trust you and be willing to share their space with you.
“You have to trust them and know how to read them just like you would your friends and family, and that just takes time.
“Every animal is different and you have to respect them as individuals. Just because you know a lot about tigers does not mean you know a lot about that specific tiger.
“As far as a common thread goes, obviously being calm and relaxed when working with animals is something that they pick up on, but again being able to be calm on relaxed while you’re chilling with a tiger or an alligator is just something that takes time.
Through his Instagram page, Max wants to show people his love for animals and help them understand why it is important to protect them.
He also helps promote organisations that purchase and protect land for animals to live to protect animals for years to come, a cause he is very passionate about.
He said: “For as long as I can remember animals have been my biggest interest. I used to love getting home from school so I could go explore in the creek behind my house.
“I’d find all kinds of fish, turtles, and snakes.
“I believe that my content allows people to feel more connected to animals than what you would typically see.
“I’m up close and personal with just about all the animals I post.
“Doing that allows people to appreciate the animals on another level and hopefully creates a special place in their hearts for them.
“People will conserve what they love, and my goal is to get people to love animals as I do.”
He added” “A part of my message is conservation. Another side of it is just getting people to love animals.
“I really believe that we have to shift the mindset of people and how they feel about animals before we can get them to buy into conservation.
“My main goal with the conservation side of things is promoting organizations that purchase and protect land for animals to continue living their natural lives on.
“I think that initiative is very important. While it is very important to me, I don’t bash people over the head with it because when you do that, you’ll start to lose your audience and without an audience, it’s hard to make a change.
“Weird how that works but it is what it is, social media is a strange place. It’s certainly a slow process – pushing a message without being able to push it all the time – but it’s a fight that I’m certainly willing to take on.”
In other news, ‘THEY TREAT ME LIKE A BROTHER’ – Brave wildlife lover on why he’s never scared, even when lions and hyenas hurt him
