Guardian of the wild

From watching cartoons depicting wild animals in childhood to becoming a guardian of their natural habitat, Zhuo Qiang — known as Simba, which means lion in Swahili — is the first Chinese to work full-time on wildlife conservation in Africa.

In 2011, Zhuo traveled to the Mara-Serengeti savannah in Kenya, where he had been staying with the indigenous Maasai people and working with local conservationists at Ol Kinyei Conservancy, a sanctuary for wildlife.

He has continued his work there ever since and his role includes patrolling across the conservancy to prevent poaching and illicit grazing, monitoring wildlife and rescuing injured animals.