Sharing a bed with your furry friend has taken on a whole new meaning for Riana Van Nieuwenhuizen.
The sanctuary worker shares her South African home with not one but FOUR orphaned cheetahs, five lions and two tigers.
Forty-six-year-old Riana said: ‘I love them all. But they’re a handful.’
Riana bought her first cheetah, Fiela in 2006, after realising the big cats were in trouble and heading for extinction with only 1000 left in Africa.
She left her full time job working for the department of justice – a position she had held for 22 years – and found temporary employment on a game ranch where she could raise her beloved big cat.
But Riana’s real dream was fully realised after she set up the not-for-profit Fiela Funds Cheetah Breeding Project in South Africa to ensure the long-term survival of the cheetah and their ecosystem.
The project spreads over a hectare of land and visitors can meet Fiela and the other cats and even have their pictures taken.
And if you want to outdo your friends in the wedding photo stakes the project also offers newly weds the chance to be snapped cuddling up to a big cat.
The cats in Riana’s own home are truly part of the family and are allowed to roam freely.
They make it known when they are hungry, even jumping up onto work surfaces in an attempt to snatch a bite of whatever’s going.
Luckily Riana’s two dogs aren’t on the menu but instead romp with the cats and even snuggle down with them for a snooze.
The cheetahs have even been known to sit in on the odd card game but whether they offered any cat-like-cunning or poker faces is unknown. (Source)
I feel as though I need to write an open letter to white people, explaining to them why they shouldn’t live with wild animals like they are domesticated pets. Its bad enough some people (black & white) treat their dogs or cats like they are humans, but this is ridiculous. Have we already forgotten the story of Travis the Chimp, who after having a heart-to-heart with himself realized he’s a gotdamn chimp and shouldn’t be wearing a diaper and sleeping in a bed. He ripped a woman’s face off. What do you think is going to happen when one of those Cheetah’s remembers that they are a wild animal? Or when those tiger and lion cubs grow up? That’s the real problem. Yeah the Cheetahs MIGHT be tame but its an entirely different story when you have a 300 lbs king of the motherfucking jungle roaming your house. First the dogs will “disappear”. Then during one of the card games, Simba will start thinking about how maybe its time to spice up his diet with some taste fresh human meat.
I can see the headlines now: “Tamed Cats turn on owner and dumbass friends during card game” or, the one most likely, “Wedding Photos with tamed cats goes horribly wrong.” Smh. Wild Animals AREN’T PETS!!! It’s a damn shame that has to be said.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
White people… when are they ever going to learn?
“And the Darwin award goes to…[drum roll]… Riana Van Nieuwenhuizen! She thought she was queen of the jungle cats until the jungle cats showed her who was king.”
July 1st, 2009 at 11:50 am
Sigfried and Roy should have been enough of an object lesson….