Cheetah brought from Namibia to India gives birth to four healthy cubs

A three-year-old captive-reared cheetah named Siyaya gave birth to four cubs five days ago in a soft predator-free enclosure in Kuno National Park, said an official on Wednesday.

This development comes days after a female cheetah Sasha had died of renal failure.

JS Chauhan, principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF) (wildlife) said, "Siyaya was not visible for the past five days. Her location was showing at one place in the satellite collar. Namibian cheetah expert Eli Walker checked her today (Wednesday) by entering the enclosure and found four cubs."

The mother and cubs are looking healthy. We will not interfere because it is a natural process. We will keep a vigil on Siyaya and cubs to protect them, he added.

Terming it as a momentous event, environment minister Bhupender Yadav credited the team of Project Cheetah.

"I am delighted to share that four cubs have been born to one of the cheetahs translocated to India on 17th September 2022, under the visionary leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi ji (sic)," he tweeted.

The minister congratulated the entire team of Project Cheetah for their relentless efforts in bringing back the large carnivore to India and for their efforts in correcting an ecological wrong done in the past.

"The cheetahs mate only in a stress-free environment and the birth of four cubs proved that cheetahs are comfortable and adapted well here in Kuno National Park. They are themselves expanding the population of cheetahs," said YV Jhala, former director and chief scientist of the cheetah project.

Siyaya was among the eight cheetahs that were translocated to India on 17 September in 2022.

According to forest officials, another cheetah, Asha, who was released into the wild last week, is showing symptoms of being pregnant but it will be confirmed only after the birth of cubs.

The expert said this is a positive sign towards the success of the first intercontinental cheetah translocation project.

Now, Kuno National Park has 19 cheetahs – four from Namibia in the wild, 12 from South Africa in quarantine, and three from Namibia in a soft enclosure.