India-born female cheetah KGP12 gave birth to four cubs on Thursday at Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur.
Kuno National Park field director Uttam Sharma said forest staff spotted the cubs on Friday and are monitoring them from a distance.
Union environment minister Bhupendra Yadav called it a historic and joyous moment for Project Cheetah. “On September 18, KGP12, a female cheetah born in India, gave birth to four cubs at Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh. Four years, four new lives: This achievement in the Project Cheetah journey stands as a significant symbol of the success of cheetah conservation and natural breeding in India.”
The historic cheetah reintroduction journey, launched at Kuno National Park on September 17, 2022, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has now reached a new milestone, he added.
Kuno National Park field director Uttam Sharma said forest staff spotted the cubs on Friday and are monitoring them from a distance. “After Mukhi, she is the second Indian born female to give birth at Kuno,” he said.
With these births, the number of cheetahs born and surviving in India has risen to 36. Kuno now hosts 53 cheetahs, while three are at Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary. Preparations are also complete to provide a third home at Rani Durgavati Tiger Reserve, where translocation will begin soon.
“The program has steadily expanded, with drone surveys, habitat management, and careful monitoring ensuring survival and breeding. The birth of KGP12’s cubs is being celebrated as proof that the cheetahs are adapting and thriving in Indian conditions. An encouraging sign for the long-term success of the project,” said Sharma.
Project Cheetah was launched on September 17, 2022, when eight cheetahs arrived from Namibia. Since then, 12 more were brought from South Africa and nine from Botswana.
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.
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Home/India News/Kuno cheetah KGP12 gives birth to four cubs, India’s cheetah count rises to 36
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