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At Taronga Western Plains Zoo, a little miracle happened. A cheetah cub was born a little prematurely on 22 February 2025. She was named Rozi, which means rose and is a symbol of joy in Swahili. She was the only one in her litter, born via emergency caesarean section after her momma went into premature labor. According to KIDS NEWS, her mom made a complete recovery but could not actually produce any milk. Because of this and because of Rozi's complex health situation, her caretakers could not reunite her with her mother. Of course, for a cheetah cub to grow up alone is a problem in and of itself. Cheetahs need friends to bond with, so they can grow confident and brave, and the friend that was chosen for her was an adorable, fluffy little puppy named Ziggy.
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It took months of intensive care at the zoo's hospital for Rozi to recover enough to settle into her new home with Ziggy, but it was worth every moment. “We started to introduce Rozi and Ziggy when they were both a little over two-months-old and at first Ziggy was quite boisterous and excited to have a new little playmate,” said cheetah keeper Jordan Michelmore. “Rozi doesn’t have any cheetah siblings and cheetah cubs normally play together, chase, pounce, groom and stalk each other. All of these behaviours are key milestones for a growing cheetah cub to learn."
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“The pair have now become best friends and it’s been beautiful to watch their relationship develop. Through it, Rozi is able to develop those same behaviours with Ziggy that she would otherwise have done with real siblings. So Ziggy is providing that sort of pseudo-sibling relationship for her," Jordan continued. This is not the first time that puppies have been paired up with cheetah cubs for this exact purpose. It happens in many zoos and shelters. And it was even the case with Rozi's mother, who grew up with a retriever-cross-mastiff puppy named Iris all the way back in 2015.
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“We did find with Siri, when we started putting her in with males, she had that confidence, she had that resilience and she had that socialisation that really improved her breeding behaviours,” Jordan explained. “It does truly feel full circle now that Siri has had a cub, beautiful Rozi, and now Rozi’s been introduced to a puppy as well.” The two will grow up together, play together, and spend as much time together as they can. Eventually, when Rozi grows a little too big, at around 12-18 months, she will also be ready to leave her playmate and face the world on her own.
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