Visiting the zoo can be a great way to learn more about animals, get your daily steps in, and even spend time with loved ones. Many zoos support species conservation, too, so you can rest assured that your money and support are going toward a good cause. Plus, what’s more exciting than witnessing an adorable animal moment?<\/p>\n
On March 7, @lyss.wellness shared a heartwarming moment from the Turtle Back Zoo when she noticed the zoo’s cheetah, Nandi, bonding with her Yellow Labrador<\/a> BFF, Bowie. Despite being from entirely different species, these friends cuddled and groomed one another as if they were brother and sister.<\/p>\n Bowie’s big yawn and Nandi’s gentle grooming are the ultimate gestures of love, but they have no idea that their fans love them as much as they love each other. They’ve racked up over a quarter of a million views in just a few days!<\/p>\n Related: Cheetah Cub’s Precious Purrs While Napping at Cincinnati Zoo Are Music to Our Ears<\/a><\/p>\n Some commenters couldn’t get over how they were “holding paws,” while others, like @amabdajess8, melted as “She kissed all his spots off.” As far as Nandi knows, her fur brother is a zoo cheetah just like her! These 7-year-olds have been together since they were both young, and all they’ve known is a life together.<\/p>\n “Cheetahs are so shy and nervous,” wrote @ivyarmor. “That\u2019s her emotional support puppy.” That’s true! Many zoos have adorable cheetah and dog BFFs<\/a> who’ve grown up together just like these two. But why are these relationships so common?<\/p>\n Nandi and Bowie<\/p>\n As one of Nandi’s handlers shared on a social media post, many cheetahs are paired up<\/a> with confident puppies when they’re both babies. This can provide emotional support to an anxious or lonely cheetah, but in this case, Bowie is more of a sibling than a comforting friend.<\/p>\n Because Nandi is one of the zoo’s animal ambassadors, she needed a helping paw to become more confident as she grew up. Bowie has been her companion, teacher, and best friend, and nothing is changing now that they’re entering their golden years together.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc36<\/a>SIGN UP to get \u201cpawsitivity\u201d delivered right to your inbox with inspiring & entertaining stories about our furry & feathered friends<\/a>\ud83d\udc3e\ud83d\udc3e<\/a><\/p>\n This story was originally published by PetHelpful<\/a> on Mar 10, 2026, where it first appeared in the Pet News<\/a> section. Add PetHelpful as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Visiting the zoo can be a great way to learn more about animals, get your daily steps in,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324774,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[175189,9205,48587,175187,111,139,69,147,175186,175188,406],"class_list":{"0":"post-324773","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-adorable-animal","9":"tag-bowie","10":"tag-emotional-support","11":"tag-nandi","12":"tag-new-zealand","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nz","15":"tag-science","16":"tag-species-conservation","17":"tag-turtle-back-zoo","18":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}