Meet
the woman who is like a real-life Dr Dolittle whose incredible bond with
animals has seen her travel the world to volunteer with them. Polish journalist Goska Zdziechowska has fed koalas eucalyptus, been kissed by wolves and even spent the night with cheetahs. In
just three years she has volunteered at wildlife sanctuaries in
Australia and even South Africa - which she has returned to twice.
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A passion and love for animals: Polish
journalist Goska Zdziechowska looks so content as she snuggles up to
beautiful cheetahs in the wild
Unafraid: Amazing photograph shows Goska Zdziechowska's incredible connection with animals including wolves, cheetahs and snakes
The
33-year-old's journey started during a trip to Thailand with her sister
Agnieszka when they met a tiger at Tiger Kingdom sanctuary. And
when the tiger singled her out to give her a hug - much to the surprise
of their guide and Goska decided she wanted to help wild animals.
She
has spent around £3,500, paid for by her career in journalism, and is
now on the front line helping wild animals under threat. Her amazing photographs show she is just at home with a huge snake to cuddly meerkats and even lions and leopards.
Goska even has a bond with snakes: Journalist is unafraid as slippery creature is wrapped around her neck
Kangaroo kiss: Goska has a rare bond with animals all over the world including kangaroos and koalas
She
said: 'I have been a journalist in Poland working for the past 11
years, and work as a producer in online media and TV now, before that I
was a business editor.
'Almost three years ago I went with my sister to Thailand to Tiger Kingdom pretty much as tourists to see the animals 'It
was then I went to play with the tigers and one of them hugged me, it
was so amazing and our guide told me it was something unusual. 'I have had this passion for animals all my life, we always used to have dogs and we rescued animals as a family.
Furry friend: The 33-year-old's journey started during a trip to Thailand when she met a tiger at Tiger Kingdom sanctuary
'My grandfather had animals like foxes and chickens and I was always playing with them. 'I have this something in me that I feel understands animals and they seem to understand me. 'First
of all I wanted to go to Tiger Kingdom and volunteer there but they had
no room so I decided to go to Australia to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in
May 2013.
A real-life Dr Dolittle: Polish journalist Goska Zdziechowska travels the world to help animals
Magical photograph: Cheetah delicately plants a kiss on Goska's head
'We
worked with a few different animals, with koalas, dingoes, kangaroos
and birds and ponies, cleaning their enclosures, preparing food and
feeding them.' After
Australia Goska headed to South Africa where she volunteered at a lion
sanctuary and at Cheetah Experience, in Bloemfontein.
She
said: 'They breed cheetahs and exchange with similar sanctuaries and in
the future they want to release them into the protected wild. 'But they don't want to release them to die, they want to release so they can monitor them and they live.
Say cheese: Goska smiles for the camera as she tenderly cuddles up to a wolf for a photograph
'One of the more unusual animals they have there as well as cheetahs is a pair of wolves. 'Bizarrely
the local police department brought wolves to the sanctuary because
they had been using them to try and create a super dog they thought
could sniff out drugs. 'But the problem is it doesn't work like that because you can't train wolves like dogs, even if they are second generation.
A rare bond: Polish journalist Goska Zdziechowska decided she wanted to help wild animals during a holiday to Thailand
'So
the Cheetah Experience took them, they are so lovely and they accepted
me the very first day which is unusual because wolves need time to
accept people, but I was cleaning and they came up to me and sniffed me
and licked me on the face.'
And
it's not just the wolves that bond with Goska, she has also been able
to work with caracal - a desert lynx - and even leopards, which seem to
offer her a lot of trust. She
said: 'We have two caracals and we had problems with a caracal called
Amy who would not come to the enclosure, but I went over to her and said
'come on Amy' and she came.
More kisses: A kangaroo shows its affection for Goska during feeding time
'Another
time we were allowed to stay the night with cheetahs, I went to
enclosure with two cheetahs - Eden and Faith- with a blanket and
everything and they came to me and cuddled me and slept with me all
night - it was so amazing. They purr almost all night.
'Most
of the job of course is preparing food, cleaning enclosures, feeding
animals and going for walks but there are some moments when you can
spend this time playing and cuddling and it makes it all worthwhile. Goska has also helped the animals through adoption where she sends money to help their upkeep.
Lion hug: Goska cradles a baby lion in her arms in one of the many amazingly cute photos in her collection
She talks to the animals: Goska has an incredible talent which sees her able to get close to lots of creatures in the wild
She has adopted a leopard named Zorro from Cheetah Experience She said: 'Whenever I see him he wants to cuddle me. He comes to me and hug me and gives me a kiss me.' For more information on her exploits visit: www.facebook.com/wildlifeofgoska.
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