Female cheetah cub dies at Kuno National Park, fourth death in two months

Bhopal, May 23

One of the four cheetah cubs born to Namibian feline Siyaya akka Jwala has died at Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP), officials said on Tuesday.

A senior forest official told IANS, "Our team is trying to ascertain the exact reason behind the two-month old female cub's death."

Earlier, two cheetahs named Sasha and Uday - brought to India from South Africa - had died in March and April, respectively, while the third cheetah named Daksha died on May 9.

Namibian female cheetah Siyaya, who was later named Jwala by the National Tiger Conservation Authority of India (NTCA), the nodal agency for 'Project Cheetah', had given birth to four cubs at the KNP in March this year.

The four cubs were bron within a week after the first Namibian cheetah died in March. Since then, this was the fourth cheetah to die at KNP since March this year.

A total 20 cheetahs were translocated to India in two phases - eight from Namibia on September 17, 2022, and 12 from South Africa on February 18, 2023.