Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence announces death of cheetah

A cheetah that had spent the last seven years at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence was euthanized Monday after her quality of life had "declined sharply" over the past few weeks, the zoo announced Monday.

Johari "was the sassy cat of the bunch. Some of her favorite things included: watching the cars on Route 95 from the rock in her yard, hanging out in the tree and chasing balls. She also liked to greet us by jumping on the fence,” keeper Laura Isaacs said in a news release.

Johari suffered from gastritis, or inflammation and ulcers in her stomach, according to the zoo. Gastritis is "a common ailment and can be challenging for the animal care and veterinary teams to manage," the zoo said. The staff had been treating her with dietary changes and medications, the zoo said.

Johari would have turned 9 this month. In the wild, cheetahs live 7 to 10 years on average, the zoo said.

Johari came to the zoo with her siblings, in 2015, from the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Texas, which specializes in captive breeding programs for indigenous and exotic endangered and threatened species. The zoo has three remaining cheetahs, Johari's sisters, Abbey, Becca and Janga, according to Vicki Scharfberg, the zoo's director of marketing and public relations.

The cheetah is the world’s fastest land mammal. Its top speed averages 60 to 70 mph, but they can sustain that speed for only about 300 yards, according to Smithsonian's National Zoo and Biology Institute.

Another animal who had health issues:Roger Williams Park Zoo announces death of endangered red panda Sha-Lei

There are an estimated 7,500 to 10,000 cheetahs left in the wild. The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers cheetahs vulnerable to extinction, according to the zoo.

Cheetahs inhabit a broad section of Africa, but they have disappeared in at least 13 countries over the last 50 years, according to Smithsonian's National Zoo and Biology Institute.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence's Roger Williams Zoo announces death of cheetah