A Kenyan family recently opened up about how they raised a cheetah, saying that the wild animal ultimately became one of their children after they initially found it lying next to its dead mother.
The family, however, told BBC that their neighbors in the northern Wajir did not like the idea of them looking after a wild animal in their proximity.
“Many people immediately told us to get rid of the cub so it wouldn’t harm the livestock. We didn’t do that because it seemed unreasonable,” Bisharo Abdirahman Omar said.
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The said hostility from their neighbors was not strange, as it’s a nomadic community and they raise livestock to make ends meet. But predators including cheetahs, leopards, lions, and hyenas target their livestock.
“We knew it wouldn’t benefit us in any way, like livestock would,” Rashid Abdi Hussein, who is a 45-year-old father of 10, said. “But I decided that since people are killing these animals, maybe we should raise them instead and be different.”
The cub ultimately became a member of their family during the over two-year period that they raised it.
“The animal was troublesome at first, but in the end, it became tame and became one of the children,” he said.
The family initially used a syringe to feed the cub with milk before they introduced it to meat.
“We have made a big sacrifice – since the day I rescued it, I have slaughtered 15 sheep to feed the cheetah,” Hussein said.
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The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) praised the family for caring for the cheetah, which is a wild animal that is usually killed or trafficked, BBC reported.
The head of the Northeastern Conservancy Association (NECA), Sharmaarke Mohamed, informed the news outlet that cheetahs are “currently facing a very grave threat, along with many other wild animals.”
“This young cheetah that was recently found was most likely orphaned, its mother was either killed or poisoned,” he added.
The Cheetah Conservation Fund also said that the smuggling of cheetah cubs in the Horn of Africa region is rampant. The organization said that every year, between 200 and 300 cheetah cubs are smuggled out of that region, with several of them taken to Yemen before being illegally sold as pets in the Gulf States.
Ms Omar told BBC that while they were taking care of the cheetah, there were people who offered them money. “Some even said they would pay 20,000 Kenyan shillings ($155),” she added.
“Others suggested we trade it for goats, but we refused because it had become part of the family.”
And though the KWS lauded the family for taking care of the cheetah, it emphasized that it is illegal to keep wild animals as pets.
“We deeply appreciate the Good Samaritan’s compassion and remind all Kenyans that true coexistence means protecting wildlife,” the agency said.
Nairobi Safari Walk is now caring for the cheetah.
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