Dean Schneider (born October 3, 1992) is a Swiss animal sanctuary founder and

social media personality An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social m ...

based in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Career

Schneider studied finance and at age 21, became an entrepreneur and created his own financial planning company. After three years, he had over fifty employees. Schneider was a banker and financial planner in Switzerland before moving to South Africa in 2017 to establish a wildlife sanctuary and rehabilitation center, Hakuna Mipaka (Swahili for "no limits"). It is a 400 ha (4 square kilometer) estate for lions born in captivity. A separate area hosts zebras, impalas, kudu, hyenas, baboons and cheetahs. Before moving to South Africa, Schneider flew to Africa more than a dozen times to visit land, make contacts, seek sponsors, and develop a 70-page management plan while waiting for grants. Schneider shares, on social media, interactions with wildlife with the support of a personal assistant and a content manager. , Schneider has 10 million followers on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

. He spends up to seven hours a day on Instagram and answers approximately 800 comments and posts in different languages. Schneider was inspired by Steve Irwin to help people connect with wildlife. In May 2020, UK's ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' newspaper reported that Schneider is the subject of an animal abuse investigation by South Africa's animal welfare agency with regard to a video Schneider had uploaded of himself striking at one of his lion cubs with his fist after one of its claws caught on his face, that led to bleeding above his right eye. Schneider defended his actions and blamed those critical of him for this kind of false and incomplete understanding of the situation and explained that the lion was unharmed and he was teaching it about boundaries. There is no official record for any investigation about this event.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider, Dean Living people Swiss Internet celebrities Animal welfare workers Financial planners 21st-century Swiss businesspeople Swiss company founders Swiss emigrants to South Africa Keepers of animal sanctuaries 1992 births