Namibian cheetah Jwala gives birth to three cubs in Kuno National Park

New Delhi: In 20 days, another Namibian cheetah has given birth to three cubs at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change  Bhupendra Yadav said on Tuesday.

"Namibian Cheetah named Jwala has given birth to three cubs. This comes just weeks after Namibian Cheetah Aasha gave birth to her cubs. Congratulations to all wildlife frontline warriors and wildlife lovers across the country," Yadav said on social media platform X.

Kuno’s new cubs!

Namibian Cheetah named Jwala has given birth to three cubs. This comes just weeks after Namibian Cheetah Aasha gave birth to her cubs.

Congratulations to all wildlife frontline warriors and wildlife lovers across the country.

May Bharat’s wildlife thrive… pic.twitter.com/aasusRiXtG

— Bhupender Yadav (@byadavbjp) January 23, 2024

Earlier in March 2023, Siyaya, who was later renamed as Jwala, had given birth to four cubs, but only one of them survived. 

On January 3, Namibian cheetah Asha had given birth to three cubs.

With the birth of three cubs, the total number of cheetahs in the KNP has grown to 20.

Cheetah, the fastest land animal, was declared extinct in the country in 1952. The relocation of cheetahs from Africa is part of the government's ambitious plan to revive their population in India.

Under the Cheetah Reintroduction Project, eight Namibian cheetahs - five female and three male - were released into enclosures at the KNP on September 17 in 2022. In February 2023, another 12 cheetahs were brought to the park from South Africa.

Since March 2023, seven adult cheetahs have died in the KNP due to various reasons, taking the total death count of felines in the park, including three cubs, to 10.

Since August last year, all 15 cheetahs (seven male, seven female and one female cub) at the KNP were kept in bomas (enclosures) for the monitoring of their health parameters by Kuno's team of veterinarians.

In December last year, four cheetahs were released into the wild, but two of them were later captured and shifted to bomas.

One of these two cheetahs, Agni, was tranquilised in Baran district of Rajasthan and brought back to the KNP on December 25. So, 13 out of the 15 are currently in bomas.

In May last year, while voicing concern over the death of felines, the Supreme Court had asked the Centre to file a detailed affidavit explaining the reasons and remedial measures taken.

Later, the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had told the Supreme Court that the death of adult cheetahs and cubs at KNP is troubling, but not "unduly alarming", and the surviving big cats are being captured and medically examined as a precautionary measure.