Two cheetah cubs found dead at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh

Two cubs born to African cheetah Neerva were reportedly found dead. Their carcasses were recovered at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, an official said.

The official told news agency PTI that a team of forest staffers, who monitor the movement of cheetahs, received signals through radio telemetry that Neerva was away from her den.

The staff, along with veterinarians, rushed to the spot and found the mutilated carcasses of the two cubs inside, the official was quoted as saying.

“After inspecting all possible places inside the boma (enclosure), they concluded that no proof was found about the existence of any more cheetah cubs there,” the official said. The statement came amid cinfusion over the number of cubs Neerva had given birth to.

Meanwhile, Project Cheetah Director Uttam Kumar Sharma said, “No other cheetah cubs were found inside the boma during the inspection, which reflects that Neerva gave birth to only two cubs.”

He said the carcasses of the two newborns will be cremated on Thursday as per norms.

What happened next?

Official said that the samples from the dead cubs were collected and sent for examination. The exact cause of their death will be known only after getting the lab report.

"All adult cheetahs, including Neerva, and the rest of the 12 cubs at the Kuno park are healthy," the official said. With 12 of those cubs surviving, the count of cheetahs at KNP was last reported to be 24.

Confusion over exact number of cubs

Confusion prevailed on Monday over the exact number of cubs that Neerva gave birth to. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav initially shared on social media that she delivered four cubs, but later deleted the post and said the forest department would confirm the exact number of the newborns.

In a new post that evening, Yadav wrote, “Today the Cheetah Project has achieved a major milestone. In Cheetah State Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park, a female Cheetah Neerva has given birth to cubs. The Forest Department will soon confirm the number of cubs.”

In September 2022, eight Namibian cheetahs – five females and three males – were released into enclosures at the KNP as part of the world’s first intercontinental translocation of the big cats, seven decades after they became extinct in India due to hunting and habitat loss.

In February 2023, a dozen more cheetahs were translocated to the national park from South Africa as part of the Centre’s project to reintroduce the big cats in the country.

(With inputs from PTI)