Namibian cheetah 'Jwala' gives birth to three cubs in Kuno

Bhopal, Jan 23: Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP) got three new guests as Namibian cheetah 'Jwala' gave birth to three cubs.

Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav shared this information on his social media account with a video of the newborn cubs on Tuesday.

It's the second cheetah which gave birth to cubs at Kuno in the new year, after 'Aasha' - another Namibian cheetah delivered three cubs in the first week of this month.

'Siyaya' was the first to deliver four cubs last year, but unfortunately three cubs died and only one survived.

The video capturing this joyous moment was shared by Minister Yadav on 'X'.

In a post, Yadav wrote, “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."

On January 16, Namibian cheetah 'Shaurya' died in suspicious circumstances. 'Shaurya' was the 10th cheetah which died after 20 felines were introduced here at Kuno.

The Cheetahs were translocated to the Kuno from South Africa and Namibia as part of the central government's ambitious initiative to revive their population in India.

The Cheetah Reintroduction Project involved releasing eight big cats from Namibia, comprising five females and three males, into enclosures at Kuno on September 17, 2022.

Subsequently, in February 2023, an additional 12 cheetahs were transported to the park from South Africa. In December, 2023, four cheetahs were set free into the wild, but two of them were later captured and moved to enclosures.