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‘Second-time mother’: Namibian cheetah gives birth to 5 cubs at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh
Along with the announcement posted on X, Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav also shared a video of the cubs from the national park.
Bhopal: A Namibian cheetah, ‘Asha’, gave birth to five cubs in her second litter at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district, a forest official said on Saturday.
Madhya Pradesh forest officials shared a video in which the female cheetah was seen caressing her cubs.
Union forest minister Bhupendra Yadav also shared the information on X, saying, “A moment of immense pride and joy for Project Cheetah as Aasha, the Namibian cheetah and a proud second-time mother, gave birth to five cubs on February 7, 2026, at Kuno National Park. With this, the tally of Indian-born surviving cubs rises to 24, marking the eighth successful cheetah litter on Indian soil—a significant milestone in India’s cheetah conservation journey, undertaken and nurtured under the environmentally conscious leadership of PM Shri Narendra Modi.”
The total number of cheetahs in India has now reached 32, out of which 24 were born in India.
The population is set to increase further in February, as five female and three male cheetahs will be translocated from Botswana to Kuno National Park by February 28.
Chief minister Mohan Yadav discussed the matter with Union minister Bhupendra Yadav on Wednesday.
Also read: Eight cheetahs to be brought to MP from Botswana by Feb 28: Mohan Yadav
Indian Air Force helicopters will bring the cheetahs to India. “The translocation of cheetahs from South Africa is going to be resumed 36 months after the translocation of 12 cheetahs from South Africa in February 2023. As many as eight cheetahs will be translocated from Botswana. Six cheetahs are adults, while two are less than two years old. They are in quarantine in Botswana and will be kept in a quarantine enclosure,” Field director of Kuno National Park Uttam Kumar Sharma said.
“The cheetahs from Botswana are of the same southeast African cheetah subspecies—Acinonyx jubatus jubatus—that were translocated from South Africa. Now, we have expert veterinarians and forest officials to take care of cheetahs, so we don’t need extra preparation for the facilities,” he added.
A senior forest official said cheetahs from Kuno National Park will be shifted to Gandhi Sagar National Park or Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary after a few months, before the release of the Botswana cheetahs into the wild.
