Kenyan family raises orphaned cheetah cub as their own child

A family in Wajir, Kenya raised a cheetah cub for over two years after finding it orphaned. Wildlife officials have now relocated it to Nairobi.

In a remote village in Wajir, northern Kenya, a family made headlines after rescuing and raising a cheetah cub they found beside its dead mother. Over the course of two years and three months, the cub became part of their household treated like one of their own children.

“Yes, I knew this animal wouldn’t bring us profit like livestock usually does,”  said Rashid Abdi Hussein, a 45-year-old father of ten. “But I made a different choice. I raised it instead of killing it like others might have.”

Despite warnings from neighbors who feared the cheetah might attack their livestock, the family stood firm. They bottle-fed the cub with milk, later transitioning to meat. Rashid estimates he’s fed the cheetah at least 15 sheep since its rescue.

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“It looked like trouble when we found it,” he told the BBC. “Now it’s like one of my children.”

As word spread, some people offered to buy the cheetah one offer reportedly reached 20,000 Kenyan shillings (over Rwf 200,000). Others proposed trading it for goats. But the family refused all offers.

“We couldn’t give her away. She had become part of our family,” Rashid said.

While the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) praised the family’s compassion, they also reminded the public that keeping wild animals at home is illegal.

“We commend the family’s kindness—it’s a story of compassion,” KWS said. “But we must also remind all Kenyans that coexisting with wildlife means protecting them in their natural habitats.”

Conservationists warn that cheetahs in eastern Kenya are facing a silent crisis. According to NECA, a regional environmental group, cheetahs and other wild species are under increasing pressure from habitat loss and illegal trade.

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The Cheetah Conservation Fund reports that 200–300 cheetah cubs are trafficked out of the Horn of Africa each year, often smuggled through northern Kenya, eastern Ethiopia, and Somalia, with many ending up in Yemen and the Gulf states.

The cheetah is now under the care of Safari Walk, a wildlife education center in Nairobi National Park, where it will receive professional care and live in a protected environment.

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