Three Cheetah Cubs Born at Kuno National Park
Each successful birth strengthens Project Cheetah and reflects the continuous efforts and dedication of the field staff and veterinary teams engaged in the programme, the minister said
Bhopal: Three cubs were born on Wednesday to South African female cheetah Gamini in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park, taking the population of big cats in India to 38.
This was the second time Gamini, brought along with 11 other cheetahs from South Africa on February 18, 2023 to the Kuno National Park under the cheetah reintroduction project, mothered cubs on Indian soil.
Coincidentally, the birth of three cubs to the South African female cheetah marks the completion of the third year of the arrival of the big cats from that country to Kuno National Park.
In her first litter delivered in March 2024, Gamini had given birth to three cubs.
Six female cheetahs in the Kuno National Park have become moms nine times, giving birth to a total 39 cubs on Indian soil.
Out of them, 27 are now thriving.
Significantly, Mukh, the lone female cheetah among them, was born on Indian soil.
“Three years on, the establishment of breeding females and survival of second-generation cubs marks an important consolidation phase in India’s cheetah reintroduction programme”, field director of Kuno National Park, Uttam Kumar Sharma, who played a key role in the success of the project on the ground, told this newspaper.
Breaking the news of Gamini’s second motherhood, Union forest and environment minister Bhupendra Yadav described it as a ‘roaring’ success of the government’s ambitious cheetah reintroduction programme.
In a post on X, he said that “Kuno welcomes three new cubs- A roaring new chapter at Kuno on the occasion of completion of three years of arrival of cheetahs from South Africa. Celebrations echo through Kuno National Park as Gamini, the South African cheetah, and second-time mother, has brought three new cubs into the world”.
The joyful arrival marks the ninth successful cheetah litter on Indian soil and takes the number of surviving Indian-born cubs to 27, he said.
With these newest additions, India’s total cheetah population has now reached 38- a powerful symbol of the country’s determined and historic conservation effort, he added.
Each birth strengthens the foundation of Project Cheetah, he said.
Chief minister Mohan Yadav hailed the development, saying that ‘Madhya Pradesh is a powerful centre for cheetah reintroduction’.
