In Penza’s Saransk Zoo, a kind Russian couple first saw Messi. He was 8 months old. But this couple decided to adopt him.
Messi has two cubs born with him. Suarez and Neymar. But at three months old, the cub was sold to the Saransk Zoo. He also had health issues and was sick. During their trip to the zoo, Mariya and Aleksandr Dmitriev asked to buy him.
Mariya always desired a huge cat, “but never a puma.” We don’t know why, but we believe this puma is part of our destiny. said Mariya.
“We debated for three days whether keeping a puma was moral or justifiable. The Mirror quoted Mariya, 28, as saying. So we went to the zoo and bought Messi. We were surprised when they said yes.
Taking care of Messi is difficult. “He was weak and needed a lot of care,” Mariya added. Though the couple has rehabilitated the cub, he is still just two-thirds the size of an adult puma.
Messi needs a lot of exercise. “He’s a dog. We started by slowly walking him. “Now we walk a lot, twice a day, as it’s supposed to be,” Aleksandr told RT. In this regard, it is similar to keeping a dog. “
Messi is not as easy as we assume. They looked for a wild animal handler but couldn’t find one.
Finally, they found him a dog training school where he learnt various commands.
His actions convinced us he was a full member of our family and would only cause minor mischief. He’s nice and wants to talk. “He’s incredibly social,” Aleksandr explains.
His @I am Puma account has over 500k followers, and his YouTube channel has over 170,000 subscribers.
The couple lived in a house with only one bedroom, but they were able to provide the most space for their large family.
“He is a huge, average cat.” “He is a cat,” Aleksandr says.
Some environmentalists oppose Dmitriev having a foreign animal in their home, claiming that the Messi belongs in a wildlife reserve or a sanctuary. Some believe that having a wild animal puts their lives in danger
Image credits and more info: l_am_puma
