Four Cheetah Cubs Found Dead at Kuno National Park in Setback to Project Cheetah

Sheopur, May 2026 : In a setback to India’s ambitious cheetah reintroduction programme, four cheetah cubs born to female cheetah KGP-12 were found dead at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district on Tuesday morning, forest officials confirmed.

The cubs, born on April 11, were nearly a month old and had been under continuous monitoring by wildlife officials as part of Project Cheetah. According to park authorities, the cubs were discovered dead near their den site during a routine tracking operation carried out by a monitoring team in the Sheopur forest region.

Officials stated that the same team had observed all four cubs alive on Monday evening, making the incident sudden and unexpected.

The Field Director of Project Cheetah at Kuno National Park said preliminary findings suggest the cubs may have fallen victim to a predator attack. In an official statement, authorities said the bodies of the cubs were found partially eaten, indicating possible involvement of a carnivorous wild animal.

“The exact cause of death can only be confirmed after the post-mortem examination reports are received,” the statement said.

Forest officials added that the mother cheetah, KGP-12, was found safe and healthy after the incident and remains under close surveillance by the park staff. Teams have intensified patrolling and monitoring operations in the surrounding forest areas following the deaths.

“Surveillance and field monitoring in the area have been strengthened to ensure the safety of other cheetahs and cubs present in the park,” officials said.

Wildlife experts associated with the project noted that protecting newborn cheetah cubs in open forest conditions remains one of the biggest challenges in the reintroduction effort. Kuno National Park is home to several predators, including leopards, hyenas and jackals, which can pose a significant threat to young cubs that are still too weak to defend themselves.

The deaths come just a day after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav released two female cheetahs into the wild at Kuno as part of efforts to expand the free-ranging cheetah population in the reserve.

Despite the setback, officials maintained that the overall cheetah population at Kuno continues to show encouraging growth under the breeding programme. With the death of the four cubs, Kuno National Park now has 50 cheetahs, of which 33 were born in India since the launch of the project.

In addition, three cheetahs are currently housed at Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary, taking the total cheetah population in India to 53.

India launched Project Cheetah in September 2022 to reintroduce the species into the wild after cheetahs were declared extinct in the country in 1952. The first batch of cheetahs was brought from Namibia, followed by additional animals from South Africa.

Since then, Kuno has witnessed multiple successful births, which wildlife authorities have described as a positive sign for the long-term success of the project. However, Tuesday’s incident has once again highlighted the challenges involved in rebuilding a sustainable cheetah population in India’s natural habitats.

(The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)