Three-year-old Malan and his one-year-old sister, Kayla, have an extraordinary playtime companion—a cheetah. This might sound unusual, but it’s a regular day for this South African family.
The siblings have grown up alongside two cheetahs, Wakuu and Skyla, forming an unbreakable bond with the world’s fastest land animals.
The two children, who live with their parents Kim and Hein Schoeman, spend their days playing and even sharing toys with the cheetahs.
A favorite activity involves spinning Wakuu and Skyla in the family’s mini Jeep. This scene captures the close-knit relationship between the kids and the big cats.
Kim and Hein, who have been raising the cheetahs since they were cubs, share the same deep connection with the animals.
Hein, a managing game ranger at the Garden Route Game Lodge in South Africa’s Western Cape, has also taught the cheetahs how to hunt, hoping to reintroduce them into the wild someday.
This unique story began a year ago when a wild cheetah at the game lodge gave birth to four cubs. Concerned for their survival, as cheetah mothers often struggle to care for more than two cubs, Hein and Kim adopted two of them—Wakuu and Skyla—providing them with a safe environment.
As the cubs grew, so did their bond with Malan and Kayla. Kim recalls the early days when she’d be feeding her babies alongside the cheetahs.
“I would have them all in the office with me during the day, and at night I’d wake up every two hours to feed them,” she said.
The cheetahs, who had lost their mother, naturally sought comfort from the family, spending time with Kim and even cuddling with the children as if they were oversized teddy bears.
Now that Wakuu and Skyla are older, they live in a special shelter in the family’s backyard. Despite this change, the connection between the animals and the children remains strong, with the two youngsters still interacting with the cheetahs daily.
Aware of the dangers of raising wild animals, Kim and Hein took safety precautions.
They taught their children to behave around the cheetahs, ensuring they understood the cats’ instincts. “The kids were taught never to run near the cats and always face them when walking by,” Kim explained.
They’ve learned to handle the cheetahs’ natural behaviors, even telling them “No” when they get too playful, much like one would with a family dog.
While raising wild animals alongside young children may seem daunting, Kim and Hein believe the experience has been well worth the effort.
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