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.

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Comments

[unami]

"Hochfrequ­enzmaschin­en Aktiengesellschaft fuer drachtlose Telegraphie"

[bibimimi]

Off the counter, kitty!

[arabianway]

A feline, however large it might be, cannot be compared to a primate, excepting that they are both obviously in the animal kingdom.

These marvelous animals were orphaned. She took them in, seems to be working fine.

Fearful prognostications are just that.

[ChaiKat]

Not to mention it's been reported that Travis had been given Xanax, not good for a primate.

I'm sure she knows what she's doing. If she's had them since they were cubs she's likely treated them as a mother and they recognize her as such.

[OkieIntellectual]

Wow, you really believe that don't you? These are not domesticated animals we're talking about here and ANY vet or zoo caretaker will tell you that no matter how docile they seem in the moment, they are still weild animals capable of going from seeing you as "friend" to "food" in a split second.

Look at what happened to they guy living in the wild with the grizzlies.­. they ATE HIM! Same thing is going to eventually happen to this woman.

[notconfindtweenhatnboots]

Correction: A grizzly that he had never me before, and that was certainly not his friend, ate him.

[SpaghettiCat]

She'll be eaten... just a matter of time.

[Manicsuperstar]

Will people believe anything they see on TV? Look at these pictures closely. Can anyone say Photoshop? Clearly not the producers on this Fox affiliate. This is obviously a hoax. I'm not even a photographer and I can see the pictures have been doctored.

[suigeneris]

I am, and I can tell you they haven't.

You're either not super bright, or trolling poorly.

[gatboy3]

Gee. Isn't that kinda dangerous?




Nah.

[notconfindtweenhatnboots]

Actually, Cheetahs have been kept as "pets" by people for thousands of years....
Cheetahs have been in captivity for over 5,000 years and were first tamed by the Sumarians. By far the Cheetah has been considered the easiest of the exotic cats to tame, so you can't compare them to lions, tigers or even cougars. The Cheetahs were used as hunting partners for sport in Asia prior to Assyrian Dynasty in Libia, during the reign of the Pharaohs. Their keen eyesight played a major role, which aided in the hunt.

Cheetahs have also been pets to many people dating back to such historical figures as Gengis Khan and Akbar the Great of India and Mogul Emperor. Akbar (1555-1600 AD) had a collection of an estimated 6,000 Cheetah, which only produced one litter each year.

Good luck in getting a cheetah for a pet in the US. They are nearly impossible to obtain, even for accredited zoos. This woman is trying to help in the breeding of these wonderful creatures before they go extinct. She is trying to save the ones that she can, even if it means keeping them in the house with her.

[TigersEye]

While (I don't think) cheetahs have been recorded attacking people in the wild, unlike tigers and lions, they have on occasion attacked people in captivity (not fatally). They're by far the least dangerous of the big cats this lady has taken, however. I noticed all the pictures above had just the cheetahs interacting with people, not the lions or tigers.

Cheetahs are my all time favorite animal, they're extremely beautiful and graceful creatures.

[darker]

She's the NEXT face-transplant case. If she survives that long.

[MizLiz]

I can't remember the name of that silly woman who wrote "Born Free" about her lioness...­.that ended up killing her.

And by the way, why is it always women who "collect" animals? We have a crazy woman around here who collects rabbits...­hundreds of them. In her HOUSE.

[kapalabhati]

How unbelievably cold. I surely hope no one speaks so ill of you after your demise. That "silly woman" was Joy Adamson, a noteworthy naturalist who brought to the world's attention to grace and fragility of lions and their habitat. Elsa did not kill Adamson. Another ridiculous urban myth. She was murdered by a former employee.

[hartkid]

She was accidentally killed by a former employee who had informed her that Elsa was imbezzling from the foundation. When Elsa caught wind that her little empire was about to crumble, she attempted to kill Adamson. Her former employee took the shot but unfortunatly killed Adamson instead of Elsa. Elsa did ten years from theft and attempted murder. How do I know all of this? I was that former employee.

[applecider10]

I think I saw the "Born Free" movie when I was little! It had a profound impact on me. The kind of film that raised my ageset to be eco-minded. She certainly wasn't a "silly woman"!

[notconfindtweenhatnboots]

On 3 January 1980, in Shaba National Reserve in Kenya, Joy Adamson's body was discovered by her assistant, Peter Morson (sometimes reported as Pieter Mawson). He mistakenly assumed that she had been killed by a lion, and this was what was initially reported by the media.

Further police investigation found that Adamson's wounds were too sharp and bloodless to have been caused by an animal, and concluded that she was murdered with a sharp instrument. Paul Nakware Ekai, a discharged labourer formerly employed by Adamson, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison, escaping capital punishment by hanging because the judge ruled that he was a minor when the crime was committed.

[Crass Innuendo]

Her name was Joy Adamson. And she was murdered by one of her employees, not killed by her lion.

[mairs]

Can you say Sigfried and Roy? Or George Adamson, Joy's husband. Or perhaps John Rendall and Anthony Bourke?

[notconfindtweenhatnboots]

What killed both George and Joy is the most ruth less and dan gerous pred ator of any in existence, humans.

Sadly on August 20, 1989 George Adamson was mu rdered in Kenya, East Africa by Somalian bandits when he went to the rescue of his assistant and a young European tourist in the Kora National Park. He is buried in the Kora National Park near to his brother Terrance, Super Cub and his beloved lion friend Boy.

http://www.fatheroflions.org/GeorgeAdamson_Information.html

[mairs]

Oh... and two bear guys, one who was killed by a bear in his tent with his girlfriend.

[MadHeart]

Silly woman really does have a death wish.

[Freesia2]

And suddenly my mind is filled with Timothy Treadwell and his beary good friends til they weren't, and a woman in Connecticut feeding lobster and sharing a bed with her Chimpanzee Travis til he ate her friend's face.....

I wish her no harm. I wish her the best. Which means I wish her common sense and the telephone number of a sanctuary before she - or worse an unsuspecting stranger or loved one - becomes Meow Mix.

This situation is wrong on so many levels.

[OKSunny]

yep, I dont even understand the reasoning behind this kind of behavior..­..did it say she lived in South Africa? Are they inside with her all the time? You can never have a life when you have a wild animal as a pet. I am all about animals & rescuing them but come on...

[notconfindtweenhatnboots]

The bear that is believed to have gotten Mr. Treadwell (the Grizzly man) was a stranger bear, that was foraging for scarce food at the end of the fall, just before hibernation. Treadwell stated that he did not know that bear, and that that bear was diving over and over again for a scrap of salmon and appeared desperate- and that he was not comfortable with that bear around. Timothy Treadwell was not att acked by one of the bears that he knew and that he considered to be his friends.

And bears even att ack and k ill other bears in the wild. Please understand that animals are individuals, and cannot be lumped together. The bear that got Treadwell had no way of knowing that this human was a friend to other bears.

[georgiegirl]

I would like to think she knows what she is doing. Maybe the difference is the fact she treats them as pets and not......d­oing tricks for thousands of people, or in the case of the chimp, being drugged. I say good for her.

[biglover]

Me too. Most people here wouldn't understand the devotion she must feel to those animals who have been orphaned. She is living in south africa for goodness sake. It's not like they don't have a place to roam and be safe. She's not living in an apartment building.

They don't necesssarily have to smell but I am sure that is the least of her worries.

I say good for her and I wish her all the best.

I adore animals and from what I see of most people including some of the reprobates here at Huffpo I would prefer living with animals.

[bluevase]

Imagine the smell.

[suigeneris]

right?

[2sweetbadguy]

It's all well and good until somebody loses and eye. It looks good but if somebody or something pisses off those cats or they roughouse a little too hard... oh lady, you're just tempting fate with all these big cats living together.

[Liberal2]

And there was the story recently of a hand-raised chimpanzee (male) that actually ripped a person into pieces. Chimps are many times stronger than a human.

[JohnFromCensornati]

Trouble waiting to happen.