In a significant event in India’s ambitious journey of Cheetah reintroduction, for the first time, an Indian-born Cheetah has given birth to five cubs at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in the Sheopur district of the state.
The female cheetah Mukhi has become the first Indian-born Cheetah mother after 1947, when the last Cheetah in India was shot dead. The feline was consequently declared extinct in the subcontinent in 1952.
Mukhi is the daughter of Namibian Cheetah Jwala. Mukhi’s becoming a mother has now brought in the third generation of Cheetahs in India.
The newborn five cubs are definitely at least half-Indian, as it is not yet certain whether Mukhi’s male partner is also an Indian born cheetah or one from the initial males brought from Namibia and South Africa.
With the birth of this litter, the total number of Cheetahs in MP and India has become 33.
Of these, 30 are in the KNP, while three are in the state’s Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Ujjain Division.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav expressed immense happiness at the news. He commended the Kuno National Park team and the Forest Department for this important achievement.
The country’s last Cheetah was shot dead in 1947 in the Koriya district (officially called Korea district) of present-day Chhattisgarh, which was once part of MP.
To revive their population in India under the ambitious Cheetah reintroduction project, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his 72nd birthday on 17 September 2022, had released eight Namibian Cheetahs, three males and five females, including Jwala, into special enclosures at the KNP.
On 18 February 2023, another set of 12 Cheetahs were brought to the KNP from South Africa.