Leopard print cushions, cheetah mugs, zebra-stripe armchairs and canvas tiger prints as loud as the roaring subjects they depict. You might be forgiven for thinking that a space like this belongs to someone of a slightly, well, wilder disposition than Ronel Barcellos, the founder of Abu Dhabi Wildlife Centre. But surrounding herself with endangered species and the art and craft they inspire has been part and parcel of her own survival.
I was four years old when I started collecting animals. My mother would open my bedroom door and find all the animals that Id brought in from outdoors. Its just something I have always done. Its my path in life and I believe God put me here to take care of them, says Ronel, whose office reflects the constant that animals have played in her sometimes turbulent life.
When she moved to the UAE 15 years ago from her native South Africa she had no idea that, within a few months, she would be losing her husband and gaining two young cheetahs in his place. Most young mothers who find themselves abandoned with two children in a strange country would leave, but when someone who knew that she had wildlife experience asked her to look after two cheetah cubs, she knew that she had found the calling that would be her reason to stay. She started taking in abandoned animals and eventually opened her first wildlife centre. Around the same time she was given a gift by a friend that would spark a passion for collecting animal-themed objects. I got a decorative bowl that had emblems of cheetahs on it and thats what started me collecting because, after that, I would spot animal print items and buy them. Friends then started giving me things as well; anything with an animal motif: scarves, coasters, handbags.
Source: National
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