{"id":29239,"date":"2025-07-29T05:39:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T05:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/29239\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T05:39:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T05:39:13","slug":"aussie-zoo-home-to-adorable-puppy-and-cheetah-cub-besties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/29239\/","title":{"rendered":"Aussie zoo home to adorable puppy and cheetah cub besties"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There are several iconic animal duos in pop culture, ranging from Tom and Jerry to Chip and Dale and even Snoopy and Woodstock.<\/p>\n<p>But the real-life story of Rosie and Ziggy \u2013 a cheetah cub and labrador cross kelpie who forged an unbreakable bond at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo \u2013 has captured the world&#8217;s attention.<\/p>\n<p>And as cute as it is to see the pair playing with each other, the reason zoo staff decided to pair them is an important one.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/9now.nine.com.au\/today\/sign-up-for-the-today-show-newsletter\/57b05181-ffe6-4143-9ddf-54d56d42db7f\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/7ce16070-63aa-42bd-a3ee-448b73a4dc54.png\"   alt=\"TODAY 2023\"\/>Subscribe to the Today newsletter here. (Nine)<\/a><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/f14648a2-5a83-4fa2-8c9d-f9413d2e9d8a.png\"   alt=\"Cheetah dog zoo friendship July 2025\"\/>Ziggy and Rosie are best mates. (Supplied)<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/9now.nine.com.au\/today\/crocodile-speed-bump-northern-territory-tour-guide-calls-for-common-sense-with-cahills-crossing\/30d16741-8aa5-4168-ab3b-cae038c54a90\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Heartstopping footage shows car drive over crocodile\">Heartstopping footage shows car drive over crocodile<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The little cheetah cub was so critically unwell at the beginning and spent so many months in our intensive care unit, it was a bit touch and go,&#8221; zookeeper Jordan Michelmore told Today.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We were a bit guarded about her, but to see her now at five-months-old, thriving and with her little her little puppy companion Ziggy it has just been the best.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Because Rosie didn&#8217;t have any sibling cubs, the zoo introduced her to Ziggy as a sort of brother and companion to help her get stronger.\ufeff<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/963807c2-dfe4-4b87-82cd-bb1bb2bd63f9.png\"   alt=\"Cheetah dog zoo friendship July 2025\"\/>They will stay together over the next year as brother and sister. (Supplied)<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/9now.nine.com.au\/today\/avatar-fire-and-ash-first-look-and-other-entertainment-news-on-july-29\/823b6699-2bb3-462a-95c4-f080e635aede\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"First look at upcoming Avatar sequel\">First look at upcoming Avatar sequel<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Because they have grown up together and they&#8217;ve spent so much time together right from the beginning, they were about two-months-old when we put them in together, they&#8217;re best friends,&#8221; Jordan said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;So we&#8217;ll probably keep them together for about a year to 18 months, because that&#8217;s typically the age that cheetah siblings will spend together.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Jordan said female cheetah cubs went off and bacome solitary after about 18 months, to prepare for breeding when they get older.<\/p>\n<p>And that will likely be the time Ziggy is adopted by a member of the zoo community.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It will be a little bittersweet when it does come time to that, but for now, they&#8217;re loving life and they&#8217;re little besties and it&#8217;s so beautiful to watch them,&#8221; Jordan said.<\/p>\n<p>Hear the full interview in the video above\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are several iconic animal duos in pop culture, ranging from Tom and Jerry to Chip and Dale&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-29239","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}