NEW DELHI: In a significant milestone for India’s Cheetah Reintroduction Project, Nirvah, a female cheetah at Sheopur’s Kuno National Park, has successfully delivered her cubs. This development marks a crucial achievement in the country’s efforts to reintroduce cheetahs to their natural habitat. While the exact number of cubs is yet to be confirmed, sources indicate that two cubs have been spotted so far.
Nirvah, one of the cheetahs relocated from South Africa in 2022, had been showing signs of pregnancy in recent weeks. Wildlife officials closely monitored her condition, especially after hopes for Veera, another female cheetah, were dashed by a false pregnancy alert. The birth of Nirvah’s cubs brings renewed optimism to the project, which has garnered global attention.
With the addition of these new cubs, Kuno National Park is now home to 24 cheetahs, including 12 cubs born within the park. Officials attribute this success to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious initiative to reintroduce the species, which was declared extinct in India in 1952. Despite the initial setback with Veera, Nirvah’s successful delivery reaffirms the park’s potential as a breeding ground for reintroduced cheetahs.
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Kuno authorities and the Wildlife Department have expressed their joy and commitment to ensuring the survival and well-being of the newborn cubs. This development is seen as a crucial step toward establishing a sustainable cheetah population in India, paving the way for the revival of the species in its historic range.
This marks the fifth female cheetah to successfully deliver cubs at Kuno after 20 cheetahs were released there in September 2022. Previously, female cheetahs Aasha, Jwala, Siyaya, and Jamini have delivered a total of 17 cubs at Kuno, with 14 surviving. On September 17, 2022, Prime Minister Modi released eight cheetahs brought from Namibia, followed by another 12 from South Africa in February 2023, as part of the world’s first intercontinental translocation of the big cats.