India-Born Female Cheetah KGP11 Dies After Five-Day Battle for Survival at Kuno

Sheopur, June 2026: A major setback has hit India’s ambitious cheetah reintroduction programme with the death of KGP11, a 27-month-old female cheetah born in the country under Project Cheetah. The animal died on Saturday evening while undergoing treatment at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park, officials confirmed.

KGP11 had been receiving intensive medical care after she was found seriously injured in the Pahadgarh region of Morena district on June 1. Forest officials rescued the cheetah and immediately shifted her to the veterinary facility at Kuno, where wildlife veterinarians and experts worked continuously over the past five days to save her.

Confirming the development, Kuno National Park Director Uttam Sharma said that despite sustained medical efforts, the cheetah succumbed to her injuries on Saturday evening. A post-mortem examination is scheduled to be conducted on June 7 to determine the precise cause of death.

According to officials, KGP11’s condition remained critical throughout the treatment period. Preliminary assessments had indicated internal haemorrhaging, while authorities are also investigating whether the injuries may have resulted from an encounter or conflict with another wild animal in the area.

Born in India as part of the country’s growing cheetah population, KGP11 represented one of the early successes of Project Cheetah, which aims to establish a self-sustaining cheetah population in India. The young female was released into the wild in March 2025 and had spent more than a year roaming freely across the Kuno landscape before she was found injured earlier this month.

Her death comes amid a mixed phase for the conservation programme, which has witnessed both significant achievements and difficult losses. Just last month, four cubs born to India-born female cheetah KGP12 were found dead near their den site. The cubs had attracted widespread attention because their birth was celebrated as the first successful wild breeding event involving an India-born cheetah.

Despite these setbacks, wildlife authorities maintain that the overall programme continues to make progress. Following KGP11’s death, the cheetah population at Kuno National Park stands at 49 animals, including 32 cheetahs born in India. Of these, 19 are currently living freely in the wild, while the remainder are being managed within monitored enclosures and protected zones.

Officials have stated that all remaining cheetahs at Kuno are healthy and remain under continuous observation by wildlife teams.

In addition to the population at Kuno, three cheetahs are currently housed at Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary. As a result, India’s total cheetah population now stands at 52.

The cheetah reintroduction initiative began in September 2022 with the arrival of African cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa, marking the return of the species to India more than seven decades after it was declared extinct in the country. While challenges remain, conservation authorities continue to view the programme as a long-term effort to restore one of the world’s fastest land animals to India’s grasslands and forests.