Total number of cheetahs, including cubs, in Kuno is now 26, marking a significant milestone for India’s ambitious conservation project. Officials say the project is heading towards the right direction as planned.
Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav announced on Sunday that five cubs have been born to South African Cheetah Gamini. Also, this is the first litter by a South African Cheetah. Previous ones were by Namibians.
“This takes the tally of the Indian born cubs to 13. This is the fourth cheetah litter on Indian soil and the first litter of cheetahs brought from South Africa,” Yadav said on X.
In January Namibian Cheetah Jwala had introduced three cubs in its second litter. She had delivered four cubs in its first litter of which one survived. Prior to that Cheetah Aasha had welcomed three members into the Kuno family.
Ten Cheetahs have died since this project was launched by PM Narendra Modi. In May 2023, Project Cheetah faced a setback when three of four cubs born to Jwala succumbed to scorching temperatures, reaching up to 46-47 degrees Celsius, making it the hottest day of the summer season. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) responded to the incident by forming a “Cheetah Project Steering Committee” to review the project’s progress.
Concerns were raised by a group of German researchers from Namibia regarding the cheetah carrying capacity of Kuno National Park. Experts claim the precise carrying capacity for cheetahs in the park cannot be determined until the cheetahs have established their home ranges.
Eight Namibian cheetahs arrived at Kuno National Park on September 17, 2022. All eight were relocated and released into small bomas for quarantine. The first of these cheetahs were released into a network of larger bomas on January 17, 2023. These facilities were constructed to allow the African cheetahs to get accustomed to the unfamiliar prey species in the Indian subcontinent, namely spotted deer (Axis axis), sambar deer (Rusa unicolor), and nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus). A few cattle and Eurasian boars (Sus scrofa cristatus) were also enclosed within these bomas, but not a single incident of cheetahs preying on these species has been recorded.