One woman has documented the animals that she photographed over the course of a year. Shannon Benson - who markets herself as 'Shannon Wild' - 36, from South Africa, has walked hand in trunk with an elephant and even been licked by a leopard, all while she was out on a safari.
Shannon said: 'I'm so passionate about animals and I like to get photos of as many as possible. 'I have plenty of scars and stories from over the years when I've been working with wildlife and the animals have gone a bit too far.
'The way I look at it though is, you shouldn't be a chef if you don't ever want to get a burn from hot food and wildlife photography is the same.
'I'm excited by every encounter that I have am surprisingly calm in most situations, even when tracking a lion on foot.
But there are always potential hazards with animals and I engage with them all - not just the cute and fluffy ones 'But even the bad stories remind me how exciting my job is and how lucky I am to have it.'
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Shannon said: 'I'm so passionate about animals and I like to get photos of as many as possible. 'I have plenty of scars and stories from over the years when I've been working with wildlife and the animals have gone a bit too far.
'The way I look at it though is, you shouldn't be a chef if you don't ever want to get a burn from hot food and wildlife photography is the same.
'I'm excited by every encounter that I have am surprisingly calm in most situations, even when tracking a lion on foot.
But there are always potential hazards with animals and I engage with them all - not just the cute and fluffy ones 'But even the bad stories remind me how exciting my job is and how lucky I am to have it.'
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Great stuff, please be careful. How do you establish these close relationships?