Interview: animal trainer Dave Salmoni on bonding with big cats

Canadian Dave Salmoni, a South Africa-based animal trainer, entertainer and television producer who specialises in wildlife films, talks about his new show, Brothers in Blood: The Lions of Sabi Sand.

" Brothers in Blood is a new way to look at lions in their own ecosystem. It's a documentary that tells a compelling story about brothers, about how one takes over a territory, but also how nature works: the beauty of it as well as some of the harsh parts."

"I've been working with predators for 17 years and I have worked with all sorts of animals. Cats have always been the one animal that I've understood well, that I've had a real connection to and passion for. No matter what animal I do projects with, I always refer back to a cat. I've had the past 15 years or so with lions; it's given me a unique perspective.

"In the moments where I'm interacting with a lion and … he's looking at me, I understand what he is thinking, he understands what I'm thinking and we've built a beginning level of trust; that's one of the most calming, relaxing, amazing feelings in the world. And it's those moments that keep driving you to experience them again."

"This is a project no one would have had the forethought to make. It was being filmed before the idea of the documentary was thought of. It would have been impossible for any cameraman or producer to know that this unique story was being told. We were just documenting a litter of cubs and, as we followed them, we found an incredibly compelling and interesting story. Sixteen years is a ridiculously long time to do a project. I can normally finish a documentary in a month or two, or sometimes a few years."