THEY’RE the odd couple of Canberra’s National Zoo and Aquarium.

Solo, the ridiculously cute cheetah cub, has formed an unlikely alliance with loyal puppy Zama, a border collie-cross-Belgian Malinois.

Their friendship journey began when the appropriately named Solo was born at the zoo four months ago, without any siblings.

A single-cub birth is rare, as most cheetah litters range from three to five cubs.

As the mothers of single cubs generally have difficulty producing milk for just one cub, Solo has been lovingly hand raised by two specialist zookeepers.

Aline Ijsselmuiden and Kyle Macdonald have a wealth of experience when it comes to raising cubs, having worked at one of Africa’s foremost cheetah centres, Cheetah Outreach, located just outside of Cape Town.

To ensure that this occurred all day, every day, the zoo moved Aline and Kyle to live on-site so that they could provide Solo with the crucial 24-hour care he needed.

But there was one thing the zookeepers could not provide — the comfort of a brotherly playmate.

To make up for his lack of siblings, the trainers set off to a private dog breeder in Dubbo where they acquired a similarly aged puppy for Solo to play with.

Zama is a cross Border Collie/Belgian Malinois, specially selected so that her collie genes give her the energy and determination to try to keep up with the fastest land animal on earth, while retaining the companionship, loyalty and intelligence of the Malinois genes.

Since meeting, Solo and Zama have proved to be inseparable and have grown to thrive on each other’s company. The zookeepers plan on keeping them together for as long as possible. If they do grow out of their friendship, Zama will be put up for adoption.

The adorable pair will now join the zoo’s Meet-a-Cheetah program. Visitors can book a hands-on encounter with them, where a maximum of two people will spend around 15 minutes in the enclosure with Solo and Zama.