At the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, one of the Namibian cheetahs gave birth to four cubs.
The news comes just three days after one of the cheetahs, Sasha, died from a kidney condition.
1952: Cheetahs were declared extinct in India.
2022: 8 cheetahs were brought from Namibia & released into Kuno National Park.
2023: 1 cheetah died due to kidney ailment.
2023: 4 cheetah cubs born in India, after decades.
Union Minister Bhupender Yadav announced the birth of the cubs on Twitter, and he also posted pictures of the cubs.
Welcome to the World!
One of the #Cheetahs translocated to India last year, has given birth to four cubs at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.
What an adorable sight! pic.twitter.com/2IIKmiSH2J
— Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) March 29, 2023
Sasha and seven other big cats were relocated from Africa to Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park (KNP).
The death of the more than four-and-a-half-year-old female feline was a setback for Project Cheetah, which aimed to reintroduce the world’s fastest land animal to India seven decades after they went extinct.
In mid-September of last year, eight cheetahs were brought from Namibia and housed in the KNP’s Sheopur district.
Also Read: Kaziranga: Rs 34.1 million Revenue collected till December from tourists
The remaining seven cheetahs are doing well. Three males and one female were released in the park’s open forest area and are “totally healthy, active, and hunting in a normal manner,” according to Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF-Wildlife) JS Chauhan.
An official told PTI that the twelve cheetahs brought to the KNP from South Africa last month are currently housed in a quarantine enclosure and are healthy and active.
The eight Namibian cheetahs, five females and three males, were released into their enclosures at the KNP on September 17 during an event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The last cheetah died in India in 1947 in the Koriya district of present-day Chhattisgarh, and the country’s fastest land animal was declared extinct in 1952.
According to sources, the cubs are in good health. Officials involved in the conservation project expressed their delight, stating that the cubs’ birth is a good sign.
