The number of cheetahs in the country has reached 60 as an Indian born female cheetah KJP21 has given birth to five cubs at Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh. Amongst them, 41 cheetahs have been born in India as part of its cheetah reintroduction programme.
Project Cheetah ‘another milestone’ with NGT committee minister Union Environment Ministry’s Bhupender Yadav announcing the development on Monday. KJP21 is a 32-month-old female cheetah, which has become the third Indian-born female cheetah to give birth in the country.
Yadav said that the animals KJP21 is a direct descendant of are Mukhi, an Indian-born female, and KGP12, a successful mother cub. The newly born cheetah is one more addition in the growing cheetah population in India since the species re-introduction to the country.
The five cubs are also a new breed of cheetah that have been genetically developed for the Indian population. Both the cubs belong to the male cheetah family and are the first to come to India from Botswana and Yadav stated that his family had the good fortune to have a cheetah.
The development has been ‘’important” for the Nation in the context of building a sustainable cheetah population through breeding and utilizing genetic variability. Cheetahs were made extinct in India in 1952 and in 2022, the government started Project Cheetah by moving cheetahs from Namibia to India. South African cheetah has also been introduced in India along with Botswana cheetah.
Kuno National Park has now become the primary focal point for the programme, and the park is managed through teams in the field, vets and wildlife managers.
The veterinarians, field staff, park management, etc involved in Project Cheetah were given a pat on the back by Yadav. He also greeted the five new born cubs, whose birth he described as ‘a chapter on India’s cheetah reintroduction journey’.
Now with the new additions, the programme continues to expand its population of cheetahs in India as well as work towards setting up a cheetah population that will ensure the species’ long-term in-country presence.