Lonely Cheetah Cub at Australian Zoo Given a Puppy Companion: ‘The Pair Have Now Become Best Friends’

A cheetah cub successful an Australian zoo has recovered an improbable caller champion friend!

The Taronga Western Plains Zoo successful Dubbo, Australia, announced connected Monday, July 28, that their only cheetah cub named Rozi had been fixed a companion to make her consciousness little lonely.

According to nan zoo, Rozi (meaning roseate successful Swahili) was calved successful February via an emergency cesarean conception to her mother, Siri, who resides astatine nan aforesaid zoo.

Although Siri yet recovered from nan birth, nan cheetah mom was not capable to nutrient immoderate beverage for her cub and Rozi was moved to intensive attraction — resulting successful Rozi being hand-raised by quality caregivers.

"Rozi doesn’t person immoderate cheetah siblings and cheetah cubs usually play together, chase, pounce, groom and stalk each other. All of these behaviors are cardinal milestones for a increasing cheetah cub to learn," zookeeper Jordan Michelmore said.

Now, astatine astir 5 months old, Rozi has immoderate animal company, though it comes from an improbable root — a black labrador-kelpie-collie operation named Ziggy.

"We started to present Rozi and Ziggy erstwhile they were some a small complete 2 months old, and astatine first Ziggy was rather boisterous and excited to person a caller small play mate," Michelmore said.

“The brace person now go champion friends and it’s been beautiful to watch their narration develop. Through it, Rozi is capable to create those aforesaid behaviors pinch Ziggy that she would different person done pinch existent siblings," nan keeper added. "So Ziggy is providing that benignant of pseudo-sibling narration for her.”

“They lucifer each different truthful good pinch their power level, nan type of play that they do and their size,” Michelmore besides told the New Scientist. “The dopeyness, nan lightheartedness and nan looseness of a puppy look to lucifer Rozi beautiful good for this shape of life.”

This isn't nan first clip a zoo has experimented pinch socializing its ample cats alongside dogs. A number of organizations crossed nan world person raised cubs and puppies together for companionship, including nan San Diego Zoo, which pioneered the thought much than 3 decades agone — and Rozi's mother, Siri, has besides had a canine companion.

In 2015, Siri was hand-raised alongside a retriever-mastiff operation named Iris. The brace lived together for a twelvemonth and a half of their lives, arsenic keepers attempted to recreate nan family building that female cheetahs acquisition — surviving pinch their mother and siblings for nan 12 to 18 months of life earlier dispersing.

According to nan zoo, this shape of companionship betwixt female cheetahs and dogs tin thief them go moreover amended breeders successful nan future.

"We did find pinch Siri, erstwhile we started putting her successful pinch males, she had that confidence, she had that resilience and she had that socialization that really improved her breeding behaviors," Michelmore said.

Keepers dream that Rozi will beryllium capable to travel successful her mother's footsteps, and by 12 to 18 months old, she'll beryllium fresh to disperse and yet person immoderate cubs of her own.

“We’ll conscionable return our cues from them, and erstwhile she’s starting to not really want to walk arsenic overmuch clip pinch him, past we tin commencement phasing him out,” Michelmore told nan New Scientist.

"It does genuinely consciousness afloat circle now that Siri has had a cub, beautiful Rozi, and now Rozi’s been introduced to a puppy arsenic well," she added.

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Breeding is 1 of nan astir important aspects of nan zoo's cheetah program, arsenic nan ample cats are are considered susceptible successful nan wild. Less than 7,000 mature cheetahs are near successful nan wild, nan zoo reports, and each birth, including those successful zoos, count toward nan world organization — "so programs for illustration Ziggy’s companionship play a cardinal domiciled successful helping cheetahs survive."

“Rozi has really, really valuable and important genetics and will hopefully play a portion successful our breeding programme successful nan future,” Michelmore said.

As for puppy Ziggy, canine lovers shouldn't fear. The zoo says that a fortunate keeper will get to adopt nan antheral pup erstwhile his clip pinch Rozi is up — and Michelmore told nan New Scientist that she's moreover considering taking Ziggy home.

"With Ziggy, we are trying to raise him to beryllium a well-rounded, socialized, confident, independent canine but he's besides sewage a really important occupation to do — he's helping Rozi develop," Michelmore added. "He genuinely does look for illustration nan champion canine for nan job."