I volunteered at an animal sanctuary in S.africa for 6 weeks, a long time ago. They had 2 cheetahs walking around within the sanctuary's walls. They had their own enclosure but were let out to roam. We were told never to approach them, let them approach you and when they do, don't make eye contact but once they had made their friendly welcome and accepted you in their space, then anything could happen from a playful game of football (usually the big cats would grab the ball, run off and chew it) or they would come up for a cuddle. I was sitting down at sunset with a group of people and the male cheetah came up to us and laid himself across the 4 of us. Of course we had to let it happen, sudden movements weren't the best idea
But it was all on the cat's terms.
The lions on the other hand, a lot more rough and could cause damage even when they didn't mean too.
You were taught that if anything happened it was never the animals fault, that we were in their home and that you had to always be aware of any signs that they were not happy. Of course you're told 'not to run'........basically, you'd be buggered if anything happened but someone was always around with a dart gun, just 'incase'.
They never had a fatality, although one volunteer did experience a bad bite, had to have 10 stitches in his arm but he was play fighting with a young male lion who was about 8 months old, lion got a little carried away and bit down.
They are pretty to look at, amazing creatures but personally, they should never be treated as a pet. All the above animals were raised from cubs with humans, their older cats that were not raised from cubs, always stayed in their enclosures.
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.....i guess just being that cheetahs are endangered......and it looks like this cat gets along with everyone in the family including all there pets....atleast it seems this cheetah has a good life....i seen on animal planet this one couple who lived with a buffalo in there house 
nothing surprises me to much.....but its also just a matter of time before the cheetah acts out and hurts someone then ofcorse they will end up killing the poor cheetah....like its his fault.....( hopefully he doesnt but then again you always read stories about people keeping wild animals and they turn on them) 
...sooo she opens the cage one day...and lets just say the lion ate....it was sad cause this ladies son had to find his mother mauled/eaten by this animal.....but i mean if you cant take care of something properly then let it go to the zoo or something..... i mean a wild animal is a wild animal and so many people now days think they can change that and some may have had success stories but most of it ends badly... 
