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Loading...Cheetah Raised by Humans Who Loved Her Enough to Set Her Free
Every parent knows the bittersweet ache of watching their children grow and leave the nest, but what happens when your baby is not yet two years old and can already run as fast as a car?
No one knows exactly how a one-month-old cheetah cub made her way under the fence of the Ol Pejeta chimpanzee sanctuary in Kenya in October of 2010. It’s no small miracle that sanctuary workers spotted her before the apes could make a meal out of her, yet great concern set in after an extensive search turned up absolutely no trace of the cub’s natural mother. With nowhere else to turn, sanctuary staff loaded the little cheetah onto a jeep and they set off together on a journey into the world of mankind.
Sheeba on arrival. She was very frightened and understandably so.
“We have added a new member to the family and we are trying to make friends,” explained Sue Roberts of the Sirikoi game lodge in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in her very first blog post about her latest wild orphan. As foster mom to all forms of wildlife including a baby giraffe and an infant porcupine, Sue was well prepared to be patient in bonding with the cub.
The Cub’s New Home – Cheetah Paradise
Thank goodness for laptops!
On the northern slopes of Mount Kenya, set in a shady acacia grove overlooking a natural waterhole, Sirikoi is the perfect place for the human race to unwind and an even more perfect place for a young cheetah to grow up. The lodge runs on solar energy, has its own extensive organic vegetable and fruit garden and a crystal clear mountain spring.
Before she could begin to enjoy all that this new land had to offer, the little cub had to gather the courage to connect with her caretakers.
“When she arrived she was terrified of humans, lots of hissing and spitting, so it was important to get her trust fast,” Sue explains, adding that they have chosen the name Sheeba for the cub. “To do this we had to be on the same level as her, so we took turns for the first three days to lie next to her and do our office work from the floor. We would sleep with her in a tent on a mattress on the floor and she would gently pat our faces in the morning when she wanted us to wake up.We played classical music which calmed her down enormously, Beethoven was best.”
“This paid off after eight days and we took her outside to play,” Sue continued. “She was no longer frightened or trying to run away. She was now full of fun and joy and confidence and came when called.”
She tried stalking Zoe the tame Zebra who was not amused.
Weeks flew by and Sheeba continued to charm her human companions on their long walks and lazy snoozes together. But her sense of adventure frequently led to mischief. One day, Sheeba decided to go for a climb but was ill prepared to make her way back down the tree.
“We were alerted by her loud chirping cries for help and found her stuck up this very large tree,” Sue said. “She does not like to be lifted so resisted being rescued by digging her claws into the bark. A tug of war ensued but she was finally brought down safely.”
Growing by Leaps and Bounds
As Sheeba blossomed into a sleek, lanky build, her interest in exploring widened.
“One morning we found her sitting in the bush breakfast car, hoping for a ride,” Sue said. “Sheba has decided that she loves cars, something we have tried hard to discourage as this could mean disaster for visitors to the conservancy should they come across her in the bush, and she decides to join them!”
But when the humans refused to take her for a drive, Sheeba decided she’d take matters into her own paws and she went for a very long walk.
Read more: africa, animal rescue, cheetah rescue, kenya, Sheeba, Sirikoi
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288 comments
+ add your ownBeautiful story. I truly enjoyed reading it. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. I hope that Sheeba will always be safe from the people that travel to the park to see the animals living there.
Hi Camilla,
Thank you for your comment, she is doing very well and is now much bigger and very confident. She does not interact with humans but the other day her keeper "Lekoitip" went to visit her during his leave and she rushed us and greeted him when he called and was his "toto" or child again immediately and wanted to play. We hope to visit her soon too. Sue
what an awesome story
Am thrilled to hear how much readers enjoyed the pictures too.
On the blog today is a short clip of Sheba you may enjoy, she visits the organic garden and is mesmerized by the chickens and bunnies, all to fun music. I think you will enjoy it. It was filmed by a friend shortly before Sheba left us.
lovely story, glad she survived the most tumultuous of times with love, support and family!
Great job, Susan! Thanks so much for sharing this story with us! She is beautiful, by the way!
Susan, what WONDERFUL news! Thank you for the update. Sort of reminds me of watching "Big Cat Diary" and their stories about Amber and her offspring. Amber frequently used their Range Rovers to sit on top of and watch for both "prey" and to escape predators, and her offspring would go under it. She had quite the habit of "urinating" thru the open top! The naturalist who followed her and obviously loved her said she spoiled more than one lunch and he had to have the interior washed out all the time. He couldn't touch her when she jumped on the roof for obvious reasons.
Thank you for all your wonderful comments.
Sheba keeps well away from people and even the rangers now, her natural instincts have come on strongly and she had been spending more and more time away from the area where she was first released. There are no tourists in this sanctuary. She has set up a new territory in the middle of the ranch far from any human habitation and we hear she was looking fat the last couple of times she was seen, so we are hoping there will be good news in the future.
To love is to set free
I understand that SHE is so fond of the Jeep rides, and now, when ever park safari visitors comes on her way she has no hesitant to climb a jeep and relax a while to get a bit of taste she used to enjoy when she was growing up with the humans. I hope the Park safari will protect this beautiful animal from the cruel humans.
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