A former pet cheetah now lives happily in a zoo. She was orphaned as a very young cub and was nursed back to health by a caring veterinarian's friend and is now back at the zoo, where she is learning to adapt to her new home. She went back to the zoo because her owner was worried about their three small children and how she would react to them.

CHIRP!~ CHIRP!~

Oh, hi! Excuse me! Sorry about that! I just realized that you aren't Cheetah! (I guess you don't speak Cheetah!)

My name is Afiya; in Swahili, that means "Health". I guess that is a very good name for me because I happen to be a direct descendent of the African Cheetah. I was born here in America, but my Mommy, "Nala", was born in Africa. But after she came to America, she died, and I don't like to think about this because it still makes me cry. I was inside her when she died, and I nearly died, too; but I had an Animal Doctor take care of me, and I got better. I then went to a Human Friend of his and I stayed with them until last year, around Christmas time. I now am living at the Nashville Zoo, and even though I miss my Human Family, I like it here at the Zoo, especially since I can now see my Cheetah Friends again!

I am a Cheetah, the smallest of the "Big Cats" of Africa, and I am also the speediest. Give me room, and a chance to stretch my legs, and I can probably run at a very good clip! I can go as fast as 6o miles per hour; that is VERY fast! I can go nearly as fast as a Car! But I can only go that fast for only about 500 or so feet; if I try to go any faster and for any longer period of time, that can be hazardous for me. I am built for speed, true , but only for so long. I can't keep that pace for a long time, or it can kill me.

I am just under a year and a half old, and I live with a Coalition of Cheetahs at the Zoo. A Zoo is home to Wild Animals like me. I used to live for a time with an Animal Doctor after I lost my Mommy (her name was "Nala"), and the Animal Doctor had to raise me and feed me and make sure that I wasn't going to die either. I was very sick at first, but then I got better; and then I went to his friend's house. His friend has a license to have Wild Animals like me (he helps "rehabilitates" them, to help them get better if they are hurt or sick), and he had had Cheetahs before I came; but I never knew any of them. At one time he had five Cheetahs, but one died ("Sayidana"), and the other four ("Kenya", "Tanzania", "Sambeke", and "Safiya") now live in the Nashville Zoo, which is now our home. I came to the Zoo only about a few months ago, and I am slowly getting used to it; but it IS nice having my Cheetah Friends with me.

The reason I live here now is because my former Owner has three little Kids, and both he and his Wife were worried that I would hurt the Kids somehow, but I really would never do such a thing. Cheetahs do NOT eat people! I don't know why I couldn't have stayed; but my Owner's Wife worried that I would harm the Human Kids, especially the Twin Baby Kids, so I had to go to the Zoo. I was really upset when I found out that I had to go away; I started crying, and I started raising a Cheetah-style Fuss by Hissing and Spitting and Stamping my feet angrily, but I had no choice: I had to go away. I was very sad because I loved my Owner and his Human Family, and I also loved my best Friend, a Dog of the Beagle Sort named "Rodriguez". Even though "Roddy" was a Dog and I was a Cat, we still got along; we grew up together, and our Owners got us about the same time. We were very little then, and I guess my Human thought that I would do better if I had a Friend, so this was how "Roddy" came into the picture. Remember, at the time, I had lost my Mommy, and I also wasn't that healthy yet. So this was how I met "Roddy", and "Roddy" and I became the best of friends.

I used to be a very little Cheetah, but now I am nearly full grown; and I am now nearly the size of an Adult Cheetah. Like all cheetahs, I have solid black spots all over my body, amber-colored eyes, a small, round head with round ears, and a sleek, well-muscled body built for speed. I have a very long tail, and like the rest of me, my tail is spotty, too. I have twin black stripes running from the inner corners of my eyes to just above the top lip of my mouth that make me (and other Cheetahs) look like we are crying. Our legs are very long and slender, and we have Claws on our Feet that don't retract, or go in all the way; for this reason, we look more like Dogs than Cats, but our Heads look like Cats. We are very strange looking Creatures, but I think we are beautiful! I think Cheetahs are the prettiest out of all of God's Creatures! (But then I am NOT biased!)

But I get so mad at some Humans: they think we look like Leopards, which are another Spotted Big Cat from Africa; but what they FAIL to realize is that Leopards are a LOT BIGGER than Cheetahs, and besides, Leopards do NOT have SOLID black Spots on their bodies (their Spots are black, too, but they have a BROWN CENTER!), and they do NOT have the Tear Lines coming from their Eyes like we CHEETAHS do! And besides, they CAN'T go NEARLY as fast as WE can when they go after Prey! They call us Cheetahs "Leopards", and I get so mad I want to BITE them! Or swipe them with my Claws! FFFTTTT!! HISSSS!!! I have heard Human Kids or even Human Adults say, "Oh, look at the Leopard!" or "Look at the Spotty Cat! That must be a 'Leopard'!", and meanwhile I am going, "You stupid Humans! I am NOT a Leopard; I am CHEETAH!" (Of course, I am saying this in Cheetah; I can't speak Human Talk! LOL)

I sometimes wish I were still at my former Home, back when I wasn't in a Zoo. I miss my Human Family so very much, and I also miss my Doggie friend, "Roddy"! I wonder now if he even thinks or even remembers me! I sure do him; he was FUNNY! He would bark and chase me around the yard, and I wouild chase him; and I always managed to win our Play Fights because I was so much faster than him, and I would pretend to bite him or jump on him like he was an Antelope; but because he WASN'T prey, I would NEVER try to kill or eat him! We were just fooling around, and I also remember how my Humans would laugh whenever they saw us playing. Then the Twin Baby Kids came along, and since they were so little, my Human's Wife got scared that I would somehow hurt or try to eat them, thinking that they were Prey; but I NEVER would have done such a thing! I knew they weren't Prey; but my Human's Wife didn't know that; so she talked her Husband into giving me up to the Zoo! I was SOOO MAD when she did that, and it was a LONG while before I could even LOOK at her when they would come see me at the Zoo! Every time I saw M'buti, I would HISS right at her Face, and I would let her know that I was good and mad at her, but her Husband, Roberto, would say "Hello" to me, and he would stay there, looking at me and talking to me. (Of course, he couldn't come into my area; that was NOT allowed at the Zoo! But I still could see him, and he could see me, and we enjoyed our visits (and still do).

Well, that is my Story. I hope you liked reading about my Life! Thanks for allowing me to share my Story!

~"Afiya".