Cincinnati Zoo's New Baby Cheetah Cub Has A Name!

A baby cheetah cub has recently made its way to the Cincinnati Zoo.

Earlier this week, the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden shared a video on their social media pages to welcome a four-week-old female cheetah club to the zoo.

The cheetah cub had been born on a wildlife safari in Oregon. The problem was that the pregnant mom only had one cub. When cheetah moms become pregnant with only one sibling, their bodies do not produce enough milk for only one cub, which usually leads to the cub's tragic death.

Fortunately, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Cheetah Species Survival Plan (SSP) identified Cincinnati Zoo as the best place to raise the cub. She is now being treated with the love and care she deserves!

According to a press release put out by the zoo, they finally settled on a name after asking for suggestions. After careful consideration, the zoo’s neonate staff decided to name the newborn cheetah cub Rozi, which they pronouns as [ROH] + [ZEE].

Cat Ambassador Program (CAP) lead trainer Linda Castañeda said, “We liked Rozi because it means rose (or flower) in Swahili, one of the languages spoken in the cub’s native land, and because she was born in the spring. It’s also a nod to the beautiful botanical garden that will be her backyard as she grows up here.”

As Castañeda explained, “The first few months are important for bonding and building trust, so we will be with her night and day.  When she’s ready, she will join the other ambassadors and eventually participate in the Zoo’s Cheetah Encounter.”

In addition to spending time with the care team, the neonate team plans to find Rozi a puppy companion to play with. This will allow her to socialize and play with other animals in a different way than she interacts with people. The Cincinnati Zoo said that it will share more information on Rozi and her new puppy playmate on social media.

On May 23, the Cincinnati Zoo tweeted, “Say hello to our newest cheetah ambassador!”

In a longer Facebook post, they explained that “Radiographs prior to the cub’s birth revealed that the mom, who lives at Wildlife Safari in Oregon, was carrying a single cub. When a single cub is born, the mom will not produce enough milk for it to survive.”

“Knowing that the cub would need to be hand-reared, the cheetah Species Survival Plan (SSP) identified Cincinnati Zoo as the best place for this cub to be raised,” they went on.

“Our neonate team will be caring for the female, 4-week-old cub behind the scenes, but you can keep up with her progress right here!” they added. “We will share photos and videos of her as she grows. Once the cub is older, she will be a part of our Cat Ambassador Program (CAP) and join our other running cheetah ambassadors in the Cheetah Encounter.”

Many supporters of the zoo and animal lovers around the world can't wait to see Rozi become an ambassador for her species when she grows up! As the zoo stated in the press release, cheetahs are an endangered species and their population worldwide has shrunk from about 100,000 in 1900 to approximately 9,000 to 12,000 cheetahs today.