Four cubs born to cheetah brought from Namibia to Kuno National Park

Cheetah cubs at Kuno National Park (Image credit: @byadavbjp/Twitter)

Four cheetah cubs have been born in India’s Kuno National Park in a huge step forward for Project Cheetah. The cubs were born to one of the cheetahs that was brought from Namibia to India in September last year.

Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change Bhupender Yadav announced the birth of the cheetah cubs in a Twitter post this afternoon. “Congratulations. A momentous event in our wildlife conservation history during Amrit Kaal! I am delighted to share that four cubs have been born to one of the cheetahs translocated to India on 17th September 2022, under the visionary leadership of PM Shri Narendra Modi ji,” he wrote.

Congratulations

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A momentous event in our wildlife conservation history during Amrit Kaal!

I am delighted to share that four cubs have been born to one of the cheetahs translocated to India on 17th September 2022, under the visionary leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi ji. pic.twitter.com/a1YXqi7kTt

— Bhupender Yadav (@byadavbjp) March 29, 2023

A second batch of 12 cheetahs from South Africa arrived at the Kuno National Park on February 18.

The birth of the cubs is a piece of good news that comes days after it was reported that one of the cheetahs brought from Namibia had died of a kidney ailment. Its death was reported by ANI on March 27.

The cubs were born to a female cheetah named Siyaya who arrived in India from the Gobabis area in south-eastern Namibia. She was two-years-old at the time of arrival.

These are the first cheetah cubs born in India after decades. The cheetah had gone completely extinct in India in 1952. Its reintroduction in the wild is part of efforts to re-establish the species in its historical ranges.

(With inputs from PTI)