African female cheetah, Neerva, delivered her cubs at Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh, said a senior Wildlife official in Bhopal on Monday.
However, Kuno authorities and the Wildlife Department have not disclosed the number of newborn cubs. Sources said two cubs have been spotted so far. The birth of the new cubs at Kuno has come as a major boost for India’s Cheetah Reintroduction Project introduced in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district in September 2022.
Neerva’s successful delivery has reaffirmed the KNP’s potential as a breeding ground for the reintroduced cheetahs, which has been under the global spotlight. She was brought from South Africa in the phase on February 18, 2023. This is the fifth female cheetah to successfully deliver her cubs after 20 cheetahs were released at KNP in Madhya Pradesh.
Previously, female cheetahs Aasha, Jwala, Siyaya and Jamini have delivered a total of 17 cubs at KNP, out of which 14 have survived. With these, the surviving cheetahs at the KNP are reported to be 24.
On September 17, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released eight cheetahs – five females and three males – brought from Namibia into enclosures at the KNP as part of the world’s first intercontinental translocation of the big cats. In February 2023, another 12 cheetahs were translocated to the national park in MP from South Africa as part of the Indian government’s project to reintroduce cheetahs into the country.
–IANS
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