Bhopal, Apr 28: Marking a significant achievement in protecting the endangered cheetah, a five-year-old female cheetah at Kuno National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh has given birth to five cubs.
With the birth of these five cubs, the total number of cheetahs in the State rose to 31.
Taking to his official ‘X’ handle, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav shared this news and wrote, “Once again, Kuno National Park has brought us great news. Nirva, a five-year-old female cheetah, has delivered five healthy cubs, bringing the total number of cheetahs in the State to 31.”
He praised the dedication of the Kuno National Park team and attributed the achievement to India's efforts in biodiversity conservation under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Union Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, Bhupendra Yadav, also celebrated the milestone, sharing the update on X.
Earlier this month, two cheetahs, Prabhas and Pavak, were moved to Gandhisagar in Mandsaur as part of a plan to move cheetahs between regions. It reduced the cheetah population in Kuno National Park (KNP) to 24. However, with the birth of five cubs, the population in KNP has now increased to 29.
Notably, India's native Asiatic cheetah went extinct in the mid-1900s, and today, only a small, endangered population survives in Iran. To bring cheetahs back to India, eight cheetahs from Namibia, a different subspecies, were brought in September 2022.
On September 17, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released these cheetahs into enclosures at Kuno National Park, marking the species' return to India. Later, in February 2023, twelve more cheetahs were brought from South Africa to help with the reintroduction efforts.
