Union minister Bhupendra Yadav tweeted pictures of four cubs in a 6 square km enclosure in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park.
A cheetah translocated from Namibia on September 17, 2022 gave birth to four cubs last week, officials said on Wednesday, announcing the first of the big cats to be born in the country in decades and representing success for the National Cheetah Project.
Union environment minister Bhupendra Yadav tweeted pictures of four cubs in a 6 square km enclosure in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park, which had received 20 cheetahs in two tranches — eight from Nambia and 12 from South Africa — since September. Of these, four have been released in the wild, one has died of kidney failure, and 15 are in the enclosure.
The cubs were born to three-year-old cheetah Siyaya. Terming the births as momentous for India’s wildlife conservation, Yadav tweeted: “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.”
Madhya Pradesh’s principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF) JS Chauhan said Siyaya was not visible for five days, and her radio collar showed her at the same location. “When Namibian cheetah expert Eli Walker checked her today (Wednesday) by entering the enclosure, he found her with four cubs,” the official added.
Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan said: “A special team is taking proper medical care of the new guests and the female cheetah.” He lauded the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing cheetahs to India and to Kuno.
Experts said the birth of the cubs was a positive sign for the intercontinental translocation of cheetahs. “The cheetahs mate only in a stress-free environment and the birth of four cubs proved that they are comfortable and have adapted well in Kuno National Park. They are themselves expanding the population of cheetahs,” said YV Jhala, former chief scientist of the cheetah project.