An Indian-born female cheetah has given birth to four cubs in the wild at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park, said Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav.

This was the first instance of cheetah cubs being born in the wild – and not in a monitored enclosure – since Project Cheetah was launched in September 2022.

Under the project, cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa have been reintroduced to India seven decades after the species was declared extinct in the country.

However, since 2023, at least 18 cheetahs have died.

On Saturday, Yadav said that the four cubs were born to two-year-old Gamini, who was the first cheetah to have been born on Indian soil after the reintroduction.

She had been released into the wild a year ago alongside her mother.

“The cheetahs have already adapted to the wild and roam freely, but mating and cub births in the wild mark a significant milestone,” the Hindustan Times quoted Uttam Sharma, the national park’s field director, as saying.

Yadav said that the bird of the four cubs marks “a significant step toward achieving the core objectives of the project – survival and breeding under natural conditions”.

Kuno milestone moment 🐾

A historic moment unfolds at Kuno National Park as an Indian-born female Cheetah of Gamini, aged 25 months, has given birth to four cubs in the wild—marking a major...

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