Sheopur (Madhya Pradesh): The New Year has ushered in new hope at Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park as a Namibian cheetah named Asha gave birth to three cubs on Wednesday. Union Forest Minister Bhupender Yadav shared the news.
The new cubs pushed the total number of cheetahs at Kuno National Park to 18, further giving a boost to India's cheetah conservation project.
Notably, Asha was pregnant at the time of translocation from Namibia as well but miscarried, probably due to stress. Later, after a few months, the feline again conceived and has now given birth to three cubs at the Sheopur-situated sanctuary.
"Purrs in the wild! Thrilled to share that Kuno National Park has welcomed three new members. The cubs have been born to Namibian Cheetah Aasha," Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav said on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
Terming the development "a roaring success for Project Cheetah, the minister further wrote, "My big congrats to all experts involved in the project, the Kuno wildlife officials, and wildlife enthusiasts across India."
Notably, on September 17, 2022, on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday, eight cheetahs were brought from Namibia, and female cheetah Asha was among them.
In February 2023, 12 more cheetahs arrived at the park from South Africa.
In March last year, female cheetah named Jwala also gave birth to four cute cubs. However, three of the cubs could not survive the external conditions and unfortunately, died in March of the same year.
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