Two more cheetah cubs have been born at Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district, further boosting India’s ambitious reintroduction programme for the spotted big cats.
The cubs were born on Tuesday to Veera, a five-year-old South African cheetah, bringing the total cheetah population at KNP to 26, including 14 cubs and 12 adults. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav shared the news on X, posting a picture of the newborns.
“Kuno echoed again with the laughter of little cheetahs… Two cheetah cubs entered the ‘Jungle Book’ of Madhya Pradesh,” he wrote.
Yadav congratulated the officers, veterinarians, and field staff involved in the cheetah conservation project. “As a result of their tireless hard work, today Madhya Pradesh is also known as the ‘land of cheetahs,’” he said.
The Chief Minister said the growing cheetah population will have a positive impact on the state’s tourism industry.
“With the increase in cheetah numbers, tourism in Madhya Pradesh is getting a boost and opening new doors for employment. We are always ready for the conservation, promotion, and restoration of all wildlife along with cheetahs,” he added.
Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav shared a video of the day-old cubs on X. Watch:
Mohan Yadav is scheduled to release more cheetahs from enclosures into KNP’s free-ranging forests on Wednesday. They will join the South African male duo of Vayu and Agni, who were released into the wild in December 2024.
Kuno National Park became the first home of African cheetahs in the country after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reintroduced the species on September 17, 2022.
Eight Namibian cheetahs—five females and three males—were released into enclosures as part of the world’s first intercontinental translocation of cheetahs. The species had been extinct in India for over 70 years due to hunting and habitat loss.
The latest births are a shot in the arm for India’s cheetah conservation project, which aims to establish a sustainable population of the species in the wild. In December 2024, Asha, the cheetah named by PM Modi, gave birth to three cubs.
However, the month before, two cubs born to cheetah Neerva died shortly after birth. As of January 2024, ten cheetahs have died in the park, including seven adults and three cubs.