All these wildlife photographs were taken under controlled conditions by 32-year-old British photographer Jonathan Griffiths who lives in Montana, USA.

See the UPDATE inside the post.

Griffiths held his camera just inches away from tigers, leopards, bears and cougars to get the close-up shots. He could endure bitter -40 degree Celsius temperatures, as he gained the trust of each animal over two to three days attracting them with chicken meat.

Mr. Risky got a camera 2 years ago as his birthday present from his fiancée. She wanted him to take pictures of their newborn son. But, after visiting a local zoo, Jonathan became certain that he wanted to photograph powerful predators in the wild. So he went to America and stayed in a lodge by a wildlife reserve. Waking up at 5.30 a.m. every day, he would take his pictures. He admitted that this was a big adrenaline rush, being so close to animals that he could see the drool dripping on to their jaws.

He carried on his project for 15 months. Luckily, he and his camera have survived this challenge.

UPDATE: Photographer Jonathan Griffiths has sent us email to clarify the story we got a little wrong. Here's wat he wrote: "I did not lead a group of Photographers I was part of a group who went to a reserve in Montana. We had trainers on site to make sure we were safe. Also the shoot was done over a week and not 15 months. Just for clarification."

Sorry for the erroneous information.

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