We all dream of escaping from the rat race but Gabriel Winn really did walk on the wild side when he moved to Africa to care for lions.

Gabriel, 24, who grew up in Menston, left his job as a communications consultant to become a "parent" to four young cubs at the Antelope Game Park in Zimbabwe.

And he narrowly escaped with his life after nearly coming under attack from one of the park's older lions.

The former Guisesley School pupil took on responsibility for feeding and playing with the cubs as part of his duties as a voluntary field guide at the park.

And when he wasn't attending to his young charges he would walk some of the other lions - armed with nothing more than a wooden stick.

Antelope Game Park was founded in order to help defend lions against feline immuno deficiency virus - an illness equivlent to HIV in humans and which makes the animals vulnerable to fatal infections.

For the two months he was there Gabriel cared for Nanu, Chipo, Josephine and Maxwell - giving them constant attention and feeding them with milk and meat five times a day.

As he nurtured and played with the young cubs a close bond developed between them - making the animals more tolerant towards humans and more willing to allow visitors and other guides to touch them.

All of the 65 lions in the park needed to be regularly walked by the guides, who were usually accompanied by paying guests.

Gabriel explained that animals at the park were up to two years old and could be twice as big as an alsatian - and much more powerful.

With just a wooden stick for protection from the untethered big cats it is not an exercise for the faint hearted.

"The dangers are obvious, but we couldn't take any risks with the guests," Gabriel said. "We all received rigorous training on how to handle a lion - their weak spots or pressure points - and became so familiar with them that we could predict their every mood and action."

Gabriel realised how essential this intuition was when he very nearly came under attack after dropping back from a group which was walking with a lion.

The animal spotted him and charged, believing him to be a threat because he was no longer walking with the pack.

In a split second he decided to stop the charging animal by shouting and waving his arms.

And his quick thinking could well have saved his life.

"I hoped that by creating a noise and making myself look big, the lion would be intimidated into stopping," he said.

"I was really lucky that my instincts were correct. However much training you receive, you can never predict what choices a lion will make."

Once the lions in the park reach the age of two years they are considered too dangerous to interact with guests and are moved to breeding programmes at various locations around the continent - but never to zoos.

Gabriel is now working at Antelope park in the UK to help run Astra, their gap year programme which gives British students the chance to work in education and conservation throughout Africa.

And he is convinced of the benefits to be gained from the scheme.

"My placement introduced me to Africa and its inhabitants," he said. "I learnt so much through the action and adventure of working with lions. They are amazing creatures."

Antelope Park exists mainly for the preservation of lions, but other animals, including elephants, giraffes and zebras, also live in the 3000 acre reserve.