When Rashid Abdi Hussein found an orphaned cheetah cub lying next to its dead mother in northern Kenya, his neighbors immediately told him to get rid of it before it could harm their livestock. The 45 year old father of 10 made a different choice, deciding to raise the wild animal instead of killing it like so many others in his nomadic Somali speaking community do to protect their herds. For two years and three months, the family cared for the cub using a syringe to feed it milk at first, then slaughtering 15 sheep to provide meat as it grew, watching it transform from a troublesome baby into a tame member of the family.
Multiple people approached the family offering to buy the young cheetah, with some willing to pay 20,000 Kenyan shillings or trade goats, but the family refused every offer because the animal had become like one of their children. The Kenya Wildlife Service praised the family’s generosity in protecting an animal that is often killed or trafficked, with an estimated 200 to 300 cheetah cubs smuggled out of the Horn of Africa each year to be sold as illegal pets in Gulf States. While keeping wild animals as pets is against the law, conservationists say this family’s compassion represents true coexistence with wildlife. The young cheetah is now being cared for at the Nairobi Safari Walk, saved from a fate that befalls hundreds of cubs each year thanks to one family’s remarkable sacrifice and love.
