Our Ethiopian wildlife sanctuary, Ensessa Kotteh, has been very busy carrying out rescues over the last few months, and has taken in two new cheetahs and a new lion since the end of January.

The most recent cheetah to join the Born Free family is Dima, rescued from Ethiopia’s Gambella Region where he was found chained in a garden in which he had been kept for many months. He was being used by his ‘owner’ as a money-making attraction for visitors until being rescued and taken to the Born Free centre in mid June.

Suffering from chain-inflicted injuries, Dima’s chain was finally removed and his neck wounds were treated. Dima is currently in a quarantine enclosure at the centre before work is done to see if he can safely be introduced to the wider cheetah family.

To begin with, Dima was understandably very vicious and unhappy, but since arriving he has already calmed down a lot and seems to understand that he is in a good place at last. He has started to use the enrichment provided to him and has a good appetite, enjoying a good diet of fresh meat along with additional nutritional supplements. His fur has a great sheen to it and has improved a lot since his arrival. We think he will do very well.

ADOPT DIMA AND THE CHEETAH FAMILY