Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav took to social media to break the news.
‘Purrs in the wild!
Thrilled to share that Kuno National Park has welcomed three new members. The cubs have been born to Namibian Cheetah Aasha.
This is a roaring success for Project Cheetah, envisioned by PM Shri @narendramodi ji to restore ecological balance.
My big congrats… pic.twitter.com/c1fXvVJN4C’
— Bhupender Yadav (@byadavbjp) January 3, 2024
Yadav, who took to social media platform X to break the news, said that this was a ‘roaring success for Project Cheetah, envisioned by PM Narendra Modi to restore ecological balance.’
‘My big congrats to all experts involved in the project, the Kuno wildlife officials, and wildlife enthusiasts across India,’ he added.
It was over a year ago, on September 17, 2022, that 20 cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa were relocated to Kuno National Park.
The birth of the cubs is good news for wildlife officials who have been grappling with a string of deaths at Kuno National Park. Six have died since March 2023.
The birth of the new cubs is an ‘important indicator that the cheetahs are acclimatizing to the Indian climate and have made Kuno their habitat, it shows that the conditions are favourable’ experts said.
Namibian cheetah Jwala’s had given birth to four cubs after a mating interaction with another cheetah named Gaurav, part of a coalition of cheetahs known in Kuno as the ‘Rockstars.’
However, three of its cubs died in May due to extreme weather conditions.
The surviving ten-month-old cub is being looked after by the Kuno park officials since its mother rejected it, after it was taken for treatment by wildlife officials.
‘Till the time the mother (Aasha) is taking care, they are in good hands’ experts said about the new births.
‘That is the best thing in nature. She will inculcate all the training required for them to survive.’