Kuno National Park: female cheetah gives birth to 5 cubs
05-10-2026 · English
Topics: Environment · 5 October 2026 Current Affairs (UPSC / TNPSC / SSC / RRB)
News
On 5 October 2026 Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav announced that KJP21, a 32-month-old India-born female cheetah, gave birth to 5 cubs at Kuno National Park, Sheopur district, Madhya Pradesh. The father is a male from Botswana, so these are the first cubs of the Botswana line in India. India's cheetah count is now 60, of which 41 were born in India.
Key facts
| Mother | KJP21, born in Kuno; the 3rd India-born female to give birth (after Mukhi and KGP12) |
| Father | A male brought from Botswana (9 cheetahs arrived on 28 Feb 2026) |
| Count | 60 cheetahs in India; 41 India-born |
| Second home | Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary (Mandsaur–Neemuch, MP) from April 2025 |
| Agency | National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) with the MP Forest Department and Wildlife Institute of India |
Background
- Project Cheetah began on 17 September 2022, when 8 cheetahs from Namibia were released at Kuno – the world's first intercontinental move of a large wild carnivore. 12 from South Africa followed in February 2023.
- The cheetah was declared extinct in India in 1952.
- Kuno is named after the Kuno river, a tributary of the Chambal; sanctuary in 1981, national park in 2018.
- IUCN: African cheetah – Vulnerable; Asiatic cheetah – Critically Endangered, now found only in Iran. Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is the fastest land animal.
- Banni grasslands (Kutch, Gujarat) is being prepared as another cheetah site.
Tamil Nadu link: Tamil Nadu runs similar recovery work for its own threatened species: the Nilgiri tahr (State animal) under Project Nilgiri Tahr (2023), and vultures at the Mudumalai–Sathyamangalam landscape. Tamil Nadu has 5 tiger reserves: Kalakad–Mundanthurai, Anamalai, Mudumalai, Sathyamangalam and Srivilliputhur–Megamalai.
Source: DT Next (5 Oct 2026); ETV Bharat (5 Oct 2026)
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