BHOPAL: According to the authorities, a cheetah cub perished at Kuno National Park on Tuesday. Three instead of four young cubs are now present in the park, according to the Kuno forest ranger.
Jwala, a female cheetah imported from Namibia, gave birth to four cubs in March of this year at Kuno National Park in the Sheopur area of Madhya Pradesh.
Notably, three cheetahs have already perished at the National Park in recent months, casting blame on the Kuno management and administration.
The intercontinental translocation of cheetahs from Africa to India began in September of last year with the acquisition of eight cheetahs from Namibia and their release in Kuno. In February of this year, 12 more cheetahs were transported from South Africa.
Given that the country's last cheetah died in 1947 in the Koriya district of present-day Chhattisgarh, they were brought to India in an effort to raise the population of cheetahs there. The species was declared extinct in India in 1952.
The last remaining wild cheetahs in India were released on September 17, 2022, by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Cheetahs were acquired from Namibia and introduced in India as a part of the initiative Cheetah, the first transcontinental large wild carnivore translocation initiative ever.
The action plan for the introduction of cheetahs in India stipulates that at least 10 to 12 cheetahs must be imported each year for the following five years. In this regard, bilateral negotiations between the governments of India and South Africa for cooperation on cheetah conservation were initiated in 2021. The negotiations were successfully wrapped up when the Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Republic of South Africa in January 2023.
A female cheetah from the first shipment of animals brought in from Namibia passed away on March 27 from what was likely a kidney condition. She was one of eight animals—five males and three females—that were ceremoniously relocated to India last year.
The fastest cat in the world were returning to India.70 years after extinction, cheetahs are born in India. The cheetahs were initially housed in a monitored quarantine area in Kuno before being let loose in the wild. Their whereabouts are being followed and observed.
One of the Namibian mothers gave birth to four pups on March 29.
Due to their frequent appearance in Indian folklore, cheetahs have a significant symbolic value. However, it is also the only large mammal to have perished due to poaching, habitat loss, and a shortage of food since independence in 1947.
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