Rosy - April 2007

Greetings from Namibia! Quite a lot has happened since your last update:

In mid-February, Rosy, along with the rest of our resident cats, underwent her annual physical exam. As part of an ongoing study of gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining) in captive cheetahs, several gastric biopsies were taken using an endoscope. This year for the first time, staff and volunteers were able to see inside of the esophagus and stomach via the endoscopic camera using a monitor. She was also given her annual vaccines against rabies and other feline diseases and Frontline was applied to help control flies and ticks. Rosy now weighs 38 kilograms (85.8 pounds), up two kilograms from last year.

Rosy is still living in Bellebeno, and seems to have dealt with the loss of her sister well. In fact, for the first few days after Daisy’s death, Rosy kept coming to the car without her as if nothing was wrong. Since they do live alone in the wild, her natural instincts have taken over. However, during their release in 2004, they stayed together the whole 6 weeks that they were “wild.” Rosy usually comes to the car alone, from the same direction of the “territory” that she and Daisy used to occupy. At five years of age, she has seemed to bond somewhat with Samantha and Tempesta despite being a year and a half older than either of them. The three are sometimes waiting at the gate together when we drive up to feed them.

Thank you again for sponsoring Rosy and we hope that we can count on your continued support in the future.