BHOPAL: More good news from Kuno. Cheetah Nirvah has delivered its first litter, marking yet another milestone in reintroduction project. There are now 28 cheetahs at Kuno national park in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district, including 15 cubs. An official statement is yet to be issued on the number of cubs in Nirvah’s litter, but officers associated with the project said it could be four or five.
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Nirvah was in the lot that was translocated from South Africa in 2022. The cheetah’s pregnancy was detected a few weeks ago, prompting a 24×7 watch on its health, especially after earlier hopes surrounding Veera, another female cheetah, turned out to be a false alert. “The birth of Nirvah’s cubs injects renewed optimism into the project, which has been under the global spotlight. It has reaffirmed the park’s potential as a breeding ground for the reintroduced cheetahs,” said an officer. Nirvah’s litter is the fifth on Indian soil and second by a cheetah brought from South Africa. In March, cheetah Gamini, also from South Africa, gave birth to five cubs, one of which died a few weeks later. In Jan this year, Namibian cheetah Jwala gave birth to three cubs in its second litter – having previously delivered four cubs – of which only one survived. Cheetah Aasha has added three cubs to Kuno family. A state wildlife headquarters official said: “Nirvah’s delivery was crucial in establishing a sustainable cheetah population in India, paving the way for revival of the species in its historic range.”
