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Report nowSwiss animal rights activist Dean Schneider is expecting his first child with his wife Ely. He announced the news on Instagram with a cute series of pictures.
Dean and Ely's great joy is preceded by a tragic story, as the Swiss man writes in a long Instagram post.
Last year, his wife was already pregnant but lost the child. "So we decided to keep quiet about the new pregnancy for as long as we could," writes Dean Schneider (31).
In a series of photos taken in Croatia, Dean and Ely now officially announce the pregnancy. They got married in 2023 and now "the book of life reaches the next chapter". The influencer poses with and next to his Ely, beaming from ear to ear. "I'm over the moon to be a human father. I'm also excited to see how the animal family reacts to this new little creature."
Schneider moved to South Africa in 2017 to set up the Hakuna Mipaka reserve. It serves as a lifelong sanctuary for countless animals: lions, cheetahs, monkeys, meerkats, hyenas and various reptiles live there in freedom. The 31-year-old has freed the animals from captivity and housed them in his 400-hectare reserve - the equivalent of around 560 football pitches. With this project, he is emulating his great idol and animal rights activist Steve Irwin.
The exact location of the conservation zone is not publicly known - it is not accessible to tourists or the general public. However, Schneider also faces criticism in this context, as he poses with and strokes the animals himself. As "Beobachter" writes, this leads to "behavioral changes in the wild animals due to human imprinting".
Although the Swiss man started the project as a millionaire, he is now struggling to maintain Hakuna Mipaka. Schneider is reluctant to work with a large company because he wants to preserve his values and his mission.
