Cheetah and Dog at Busch Gardens
Who said cats and dogs can't be friends? Cheetah and Labrador who grew up together as brother and sister show off their adorable bond
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They were raised together as an unlikely brother and sister, and for the past two years Kasi the cheetah and Mtani the labrador have spent their days rollicking around without a care in the world.
Brought together in April 2011, when they were both no more than three-months old, Kasi and Mtani grew up at the Cheetah habitat of Busch Gardens, Tampa, Florida.
The pair became stars as amazing pictures of their strange but touching relationship revealed them to be best friends, but sadly, nature seems to be taking its course as Kasi is re-introduced back to members of his own species.
The way we were: Kasi and Mtani celebrate their first year together in their pen at the Cheetah habitat at Busch Gardens, Tampa, Florida
As Kasi has been maturing into a young adult, he has been spending less and less time with Mtani as he has become interested in a group of young females in the next pen.
His handlers decided to slowly introduce him to a female named Jenna as a potential playmate because of her easy going nature.
Drifting apart: Mtani and Kasi have simply grown up and grown apart because it is time for Kasi to meet members of his own species
Hello: United when Kasi was eight-weeks old and Mtani was three-months old - the pair quickly became the best of friends
Halloween: The two spent almost two years together at Busch Gardens celebrating everything from Christmas to Halloween as best friends
One of Kasi's handlers, Animal Care Specialist, Anna Chaney said that while she wouldn't go as far to say it was love at first sight, 'it was considered a huge success.'
'Kasi was very excited to meet Jenna, but Jenna wasn't quite sure what to think of a zealous young male who wasn't very fluent in cheetah body language,' said Anna.
New friend: This is Jenna the cheetah that Kasi has taken a shine to and has met several times over the past month at Busch Gardens
'Jenna has firmly but patiently taught Kasi proper cheetah manners and they seem to enjoy their time spent in one of our back yards or on the habitat.
'We are very excited to share this wonderful success story with our guests. From a lone orphaned cub raised by humans with a puppy for a sister, to a handsome young man looking forward to the future with a cheetah friend by his side, Kasi has had quite a beginning to life!'
As for Mtani, Busch Gardens is grateful to her for providing Kasi with such loving companionship while he was growing up.
'We are currently exploring the best option for her. That could be continuing her role here at Busch Gardens as an animal ambassador, hanging out with Kasi when he's not with Jenna, or going home with one of our trainers to live the life of a regular pup,' said Anna.
While it is sad that their relationship is not what it was, visitors to the park had gotten used to seeing Kasi and Mtani being trained by keepers and making use of the specially-designed habitat to run, and chase after each other.
Kasi and Mtani also traveled together to schools and community events to raise awareness of the importance of protecting wild cheetahs and to publicise Busch Gardens' conservation work.
Cheetahs are included on both the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list of vulnerable species as well as on the US Endangered Species Act list of threatened species.
Only approximately 12,400 cheetahs remain in the wild.
The SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund has donated nearly $100,000 to cheetah efforts in Africa since 2005.
Play time no more: While Kasi and Mtani will still be able to see each other - they wont spend as much time together as they used to over the past two years
Cheetah and Dog at Busch Gardens
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2516027/Who-said-cats-dogs-friends-Cheetah-female-Labrador-grew-brother-sister-adorable-bond.html
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