CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Zoo is welcoming the newest member of its Cat Ambassador Program: Rozi the cheetah cub.

The two-month-old cub is getting used to life in Cincinnati and will soon be available for people to see at the Cheetah Encounter thanks to the care of her trainers. 

What You Need To Know

  • Rozi the cheetah cub is the newest addition to the Cat Ambassador program at the Cincinnati Zoo

  • Rozi was rejected by her mother, but the trainers at the Cincinnati Zoo are stepping in to raise her

  • Rozi is in the initial stages of meeting her companion dog, Daisy

  • Trainer Andie Haugen is ecstatic to see Rozi grow up from cub to ambassador 
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Andie Haugen and her friends, Kris the cheetah and Remus the dog, are local celebrities in their own right. 

They’ve all been close friends since Kris was a cub. 

“I’ve been with her ever since she came to live with us when she was three days old,” Haugen said.

Haugen loves her role as a Senior Cat Ambassador Trainer. 

“As you can tell, this is pretty amazing, right? Not many people can say they have a close relationship with a Cheetah,” Haugen said. “So that’s something I absolutely love about my job.” 

Now Haugen and the other Cat Ambassador Trainers have a new cub to look after. 

Rozi the Cheetah cub was rejected by her mother because she was just a single cub. So the Cincinnati Zoo found her to be a perfect candidate for joining the program. 

“She is about eight weeks old now,” Haugen said. “And she’s growing bigger and bigger every day. She is officially not on milk anymore, so that means she’s weaned. So she’s eating meat just like a big cheetah would.” 

Rozi is in the initial stages of meeting her companion dog, Daisy, making her one of nine Cat Ambassadors in the program.

“Rozi is a month younger than Daisy,” Haugen said. “So we try to get them as close in age as possible. So we’re slowly starting those introductions. She’s not entirely sure who this black dog is that’s playing with her. But we’re noticing every day that she’s getting more confident. That’s exactly what we wanna see.” 

Even though Rozi is growing up quickly, she’s still got a long way to go before she makes it to the Cheetah Encounter to meet Zoo visitors. 

“She still has a couple of vaccinations and shots we need to make sure she gets before she's able to even move up to this area,” Haugen said. “And then it's going to be a slow process of getting her used to big new open spaces, a very big yard for a very tiny cheetah. So it'll take some time. But hopefully in the next few months here as she gets those shots and is happy and healthy, will be able to have some experiences for us to maybe see her in the future.

Seeing this cub go from rescue to ambassador makes it all worth it for Haugen. 

“Oh yeah it’s the dream,” she said. “I’m literally living my dream job. I love it.”