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Is anyone else obsessed with watching Messi the Russian Puma?
Long story short, he was born in a petting "zoo" and would have been put down because he had health issues and the "zoo" could not care for him.
So this Russian couple adopted him and raised him from the time he was a small cub. They have paid for his extensive medical treatments and he is now healthy, though he needs continuous medication.
He is the most gentle and sweet tame cougar ever (his disabilities may be genetic in nature as he seems to exhibit a form of neoteny) and even attended, and graduated from, Dog Obedience School. Evidently mountain lions tend to be easiest big cat for people to handle as they take to domestication best out of the big five (leopards are the worst).
He lives with the couple as a pampered pet, is amazingly attached to the guy, and is now joined by a rescued Cheetah, who was being maltreated in a circus, who is also very tame (Cheetahs have been pets for many millennia, they take to being with people the best amongst the larger wild cats).
The couple initially raised Messi in their small apartment, but thanks to the YouTube monies they build a good sized house and now Messi has a lot of room and a big fenced-in yard. They have built a separate facility on the property for Gerda the Cheetah until they feel the two cats can live together in the house.
Some people might question the wisdom of keeping these big cats in captivity. The cats are well taken care of, see a veterinarian regularly, and the couple has permits to care for them. But for the couple, Messi had no were else to go, as even if he were healthy enough to be released into nature, cougars are not native to Russia. He would have been euthanized. Gerda would still be stuck in a circus being maltreated.
Origin story below:
Messi:
And Gerda:
Long story short, he was born in a petting "zoo" and would have been put down because he had health issues and the "zoo" could not care for him.
So this Russian couple adopted him and raised him from the time he was a small cub. They have paid for his extensive medical treatments and he is now healthy, though he needs continuous medication.
He is the most gentle and sweet tame cougar ever (his disabilities may be genetic in nature as he seems to exhibit a form of neoteny) and even attended, and graduated from, Dog Obedience School. Evidently mountain lions tend to be easiest big cat for people to handle as they take to domestication best out of the big five (leopards are the worst).
He lives with the couple as a pampered pet, is amazingly attached to the guy, and is now joined by a rescued Cheetah, who was being maltreated in a circus, who is also very tame (Cheetahs have been pets for many millennia, they take to being with people the best amongst the larger wild cats).
The couple initially raised Messi in their small apartment, but thanks to the YouTube monies they build a good sized house and now Messi has a lot of room and a big fenced-in yard. They have built a separate facility on the property for Gerda the Cheetah until they feel the two cats can live together in the house.
Some people might question the wisdom of keeping these big cats in captivity. The cats are well taken care of, see a veterinarian regularly, and the couple has permits to care for them. But for the couple, Messi had no were else to go, as even if he were healthy enough to be released into nature, cougars are not native to Russia. He would have been euthanized. Gerda would still be stuck in a circus being maltreated.
Origin story below:
Messi:
And Gerda: