Meet the young couple who bought a zoo
Luzanne and Riaan Rossouw are surrounded by all creatures, great and small.
EVERY little girl has a secret dream – to marry the hero, buy a wildlife sanctuary in the heart of a tropical jungle, work with exotic animals and live happily ever after with an orangutan for a necklace.
The dream came true for Luzanne Rossouw, sealed with a sparkling ring from hubby Riaan and two ‘honeymoon chickens’ to add to her menagerie of strange and outlandish animals.
The dynamic team settled in a cosy love nest adjacent to Reptile City in Mposa, which they share with ducklings, bunnies, chinchillas, guinea pigs, hedgehogs and a Scottish terrier pack vying for attention. And that is just inside the house.
The Rossouws can without exaggeration say they live in a zoo.
But living in the African wilds is not for the fainthearted.
Last year, while helping to move a giant croc, Luzanne was at the receiving end of a whipping when the croc slammed her from side to side with his powerful tail in an enclosed space.
As the capture team struggled to regain their hold on the beast, the noose slipped a centimetre and its ferocious fangs snapped closed over Riaan’s elbow.
Blood spurted everywhere, but heroes don’t go to hospital and a quick stitching had to suffice.
A week later Luzanne dug out proof of Riaan’s wrestling match from the partially closed wound – a big tooth.
Needless to say, the culprit grinned in victory – albeit with a gap.
The couple has been working together since they were teenagers.
‘Many of the animals belonged to people who did not want them anymore or did not know how to take proper care of them, so they end up here and we just grow fond of them,’ she smiles.
Riaan is a walking talking animal dictionary with the quiet confidence of an expert.
He handles the most dangerous snake species with supreme skill, knowing a marginal mistake can come back to bite you.
Luzanne lovingly picks up and cradles every little creature while explaining eating habits, temperaments and peculiarities.
Her fluffy bunnies are gently carried around in a soft basket, and the chinchilla snuggles up to her, rubbing his nose in her neck.
The black and white bunny, raised by a family to sleep in a bed, hops up for a scratch and at the pond the ducks cackle their glee and come running to her with wagging tails.
Life in the zoo is just fine.
Read more on Zululand crocodiles HERE
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