- Monday, March 03, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Two days after a cheetah which was among eight brought from Namibia to India last year died from kidney ailment, the South Asian nation’s project to revive the feline population received a big boost as four cheetah cubs took birth.
The news, which was announced by India’s environment minister Bhupender Yadav who called it “momentous”, also marked history as it was after over seven decades that cheetahs took birth in India where they were officially declared extinct in the early 1950s.
India has been making efforts to reintroduce the big cats on its soil for decades. Last year, it flew in eight cheetahs from Namibia and released them in the Kuno National Park wildlife sanctuary in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh on the occasion of prime minister Narendra Modi’s birthday on September 17. The four cubs were born in the same sanctuary to one of the females that came from Namibia.
Last month, another 12 were brought from South Africa.
“I congratulate the entire team of Project Cheetah for their relentless efforts in bringing back cheetahs to India and for their efforts in correcting an ecological wrong done in the past,” Yadav was quoted as saying by the BBC.
In a tweet, the minister said, “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 @narendramodiji.”
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 @narendramodi ji. pic.twitter.com/a1YXqi7kTt
— Bhupender Yadav (@byadavbjp) March 29, 2023
Modi also welcomed the “wonderful news”.
According to the Press Trust of India, the cheetah cubs were believed to have been born five days ago but were seen by officials on Wednesday (29).
A park official told the news agency that their mother Siyaya was doing fine along with the newborns.
India’s Supreme Court sought qualifications and experience of the members of the cheetah task force as it was alleged that they did not have the skills in looking after the animal.
Cheetahs — the world’s fastest land animal — became officially extinct in India in 1952, due to hunting, a loss of habitat and not having enough prey to consume.
The vast majority of the 7,000 cheetahs in the world are now found in Africa – in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.
