Cheers in Kuno as cheetah Nirvah gives birth to his first litter | India News – Times of India

BHOPAL: More good news from Kuno. Cheetah Nirvah has delivered its first litter, which is another milestone in the reintroduction project. There are now 28 cheetahs Kuno national park in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh, including 15 cubs.
An official statement has yet to be made on the number of cubs in Nirvah’s nest, but officers involved with the project said there could be four or five.
Nirvah was located in the plot transferred from South Africa in 2022.
The cheetah’s pregnancy was discovered a few weeks ago, prompting 24×7 monitoring of its health, especially after earlier hopes surrounding Veera, another female cheetah, turned out to be false alarms.
“The birth of Nirvah’s cubs brings renewed optimism to the project, which is in the global spotlight. It has reaffirmed the potential of the park as a breeding ground for the reintroduced cheetahs,” said an officer.
Nirvah’s nest is the fifth on Indian soil and the second of a cheetah brought from South Africa. In March, cheetah Gamini, also from South Africa, gave birth to five cubs, one of which died a few weeks later. In January this year, the Namibian cheetah Jwala gave birth to three cubs in his second litter, after previously giving birth to four cubs, of which only one survived. Cheetah Aasha has added three cubs to the Kuno family.
An official from the state wildlife headquarters said, “The supply of Nirvah was crucial in establishing a sustainable cheetah population in India, paving the way for the revival of the species in its historic range.”