Riana Van Nieuwenhuizen Lives With Cheetahs, Lions And Tigers In South African Home (VIDEO)

The Daily Mail reports on the bizarre story of Riana Van Nieuwenhuizen, the South African woman who lives with 11 orphaned cats. However, these are not your typical house cats; they consist of four cheetahs, five lions and two tigers. The Daily Mail has some incredible photos as well as more details. Apparently the cats are just allowed to roam freely and have been integrated into the normal family life. However, this seems like a situation that could quickly spiral out of control if these cats suddenly remember that they're wild animals.

WATCH:

Comments

[maisnon55]

Let them go, they are not designed to live in these conditions. Who will be destroyed when they act as they naturally do?...........the animals, of course. Why can't people enjoy the beauty of animals and let them live? Good lord.

[Beegood]

Keeping a wild animal as a pet is selfish and cruel, as well foolish.

[notconfindtweenhatnboots]

Arggghhh... the ignor ance.

All 11 of these cats were orphaned and would have di ed had they not had a human handfeeding them. How is feeding a starving baby selfish or cruel?

[MikeDu]

Its funny, some of the earliest western literature includes a parable about a king who raises a lion cub as a family pet. You can guess how the parable ends.

[LLisaLL]

Cheetahs can be domesticated. I have a friend that had pet cheetahs in Somalia. When they had to leave the posting, they couldn't turn them loose so they brought them back to America and the local zoo took them in. Her family would visit them there. All the photos of the South African woman are only of the cheetahs. I don't care what they're reporting, it's very unlikely she would have lions and tigers and cheetahs all roaming around her house. It's probably only the cheetahs.

[notconfindtweenhatnboots]

The 5 white lions and 2 tigers are all babies now and need to be hand fed. See the pictures of these tiny big cats that were supposed to go with this story....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1195888/I-share-home-11-cats--cheetahs-lions-tigers.html?fk

[b93950]

Cheetahs can be domesticated? Perhaps so until they eat you for dinner.

[TigersEye]

They've never been on record killing anyone but I'm sure they can deliver a nasty bite or scratch.

[tigerlyly]

Pics get my thumbs up, I could have done without the tired commentary.

[iRock]

Sigfreid and Roy?

[Zech Ehnert]

The next story will be about her getting eaten.

[notconfindtweenhatnboots]

The Nel Family, who owns and operates the Namibia Cheetah Sanctuary, has had three hand-raised Cheetahs as house pets since 1994.

No one has gotten eaten or mauled.

[notconfindtweenhatnboots]

http://consciousearth.blogspot.com/2008/01/past-week-saw-one-of-most-impressive.html

[TigersEye]

I never have understood the "crazy cat lady" comment anyway. The various cat species are some of the most breathtaking animals on our planet. Look at snow leopards, for example. I don't get the cat ridicule at all. They're fascinating and very independent animals, even house cats.

We have a lot of wonderful animals on our planet, big and small. Using the word "crazy" to describe someone who loves animals (of any kind) is wrong - actually you're weird if you don't (in my opinion). We need to appreciate our wildlife while we still have it around. Many species are practically extinct because of us.

(I know the guy who said "crazy cat lady" in the video was saying it tongue in cheek and I'll be the first one to tack on my own crazy cat lady brownie button, even though I only have one cat. ;)

[Knowledgeseeker]

one word. crazy woman

[Gorsegrower]

According to Hartkid Elsa the lion was "imbezzling" from the foundation, and he was the former employee. How confused can one get?

Wasn't it Jayne Mansfield who used to stroll around with a cheetah on a leash?

[Stacye]

Anne Francis as Honey West would stroll about with a cheetah.

[kapalabhati]

I think Hartkid was being facetious. It was pretty funny.

[Joye]

I'll stick to my kitty cat named Paul who looks and acts like Garfield.. Nice LITTLE kitty.. Harmless; well, he DOES wind up scratching me a lot...

[Joye]

I think Roy of Siegfrid and Roy should call this woman and tell her what happened to him with the Wild Cat he has...

[maisnon55]

siegfrid and roy didn't learn, they are pigs......­.......umm­mm, calling them "pigs" is insulting to the pigs......

[coco51]

While a very scary charity endeavor, I find it reprehensible that these reporters would go so far as to call her "crazy cat lady." It never ceases to amaze me the widening dearth of english language skill these people possess. They are wonderful examples of the American education system and the pool from which employers have to glean from.

[Gorsegrower]

Which education system taught you to write "...from which employers have to glean from."?

Want to put a couple more whiches and froms in there?

[maisnon55]

lighten up

[Clairvaux]

But what if your pet Cheetah has a bad day???

[KarenDotCom]

You feed him a back of Cheetos, duh!

[KennyFox]

How long before one bites her in the ass?