Namibian cheetah Asha gives birth to three cubs at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh

A female cheetah named Asha, who was relocated from Namibia to India, gave birth to three cubs at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday.

This is the second time Asha became pregnant after a miscarriage at the time of translocation. Experts believe that she lost the embryos due to stress at that time.

Sharing the clip of the cubs on social media X, India's environment minister Bhupender Yadav praised wildlife experts involved in Project Cheetah, which was commenced on September 17, 2022, to restore the population of the wild cats, which were declared extinct in the country in 1952.

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.

This is a roaring success for Project Cheetah, envisioned by PM Shri @narendramodi ji to restore ecological balance.

My big congrats… pic.twitter.com/c1fXvVJN4C

— Bhupender Yadav (@byadavbjp) January 3, 2024

The total number of the wildcats, including the three newborn cubs, now stands at 20.

The development provides a major boost for the government, which has been grappling with a spate of cheetah deaths in the country.

In May last year, three of four cubs born to another Namibian cheetah named 'Jwala' died soon after birth. Six adults introduced at Kuno have also died since the beginning of the project, taking the total number of deaths to nine.

A total of 20 cheetahs were brought in from Namibia and South Africa. On September 17, 2022, on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday, eight cheetahs came from Namibia, while 12 arrived from South Africa in February 2023. Asha was named by Modi.