4 Cheetah Cubs Die at Kuno Nationwide Park in Setback to Venture Cheetah
3 min learnBhopalUp to date: Could 12, 2026 08:18 PM IST
The deaths of 4 one-month-old cheetah cubs within the wild at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno Nationwide Park on Tuesday marked a setback for India’s bold cheetah reintroduction programme, which had not too long ago witnessed a sharp rise in births and increasing populations inside and out of doors protected enclosures.
Officers mentioned the cubs, born on April 11 to feminine cheetah, KGP12, within the Sheopur Territorial Division adjoining Kuno, have been discovered lifeless round 6.30 am by monitoring groups close to the den web site. The our bodies have been partially eaten. Based on the Area Director of the Cheetah Venture, the cubs had been seen alive on Monday night.
“Prima facie, the incident seems to be predation by one other animal,” mentioned a senior wildlife official, including that the mom cheetah was secure and wholesome. Postmortem examinations and an in depth investigation are underway to find out the precise reason for dying.
The deaths come at a time when the Cheetah Venture had been seeing indicators of stabilisation after a troublesome preliminary section marked by deaths of the massive cats.
Simply days in the past, Madhya Pradesh authorities have been celebrating the success of Venture Cheetah at Kuno Nationwide Park. On Could 10, coinciding with Mom’s Day celebrations, park authorities launched a brief movie that includes feminine cheetahs and their cubs. A day later, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav launched two feminine cheetahs introduced from Botswana from their enclosures into the open forest.
KGP12’s litter was among the many newest additions to what officers had described as a “child growth” in Kuno. Because the arrival of African cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa starting in September 2022, a number of females have given beginning in India.
With the dying of the 4 cubs, Kuno presently homes 50 cheetahs, together with the Indian-born animals, whereas three extra are being housed at Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary. The overall cheetah inhabitants in India now stands at 53, officers mentioned.
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Tuesday’s deaths revive considerations over cub survival charges within the venture. A number of cubs born in Kuno over the previous two years have died resulting from numerous causes, together with excessive warmth, weak spot, abandonment, and suspected infections.
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