Cause of death yet to be determined; forest officials continue monitoring mother Asha and her four surviving cubs
Bhopal/Sheopur, October 2026 : An eight-month-old cub of Asha, a Namibian female cheetah at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park, was found dead on Monday after going missing during routine morning monitoring. The death has reduced India’s cheetah population to 59, including 41 animals born in the country.
According to forest officials, staff initiated a search operation after finding Asha with only four of her five cubs during the morning monitoring exercise. The missing cub was subsequently located dead, the Field Director of Project Cheetah at Kuno National Park said in a statement.
“During morning monitoring, Asha was observed with four of her five cubs. A search was undertaken to locate the missing cub, which was subsequently found dead,” the official said.
The cause of death has not yet been established. Officials said the circumstances would become clearer after the post-mortem report is received.
Following the incident, Kuno National Park’s cheetah population has declined to 53, including 40 Indian-born animals. Of these, 15 are currently roaming freely in the wild, while the remaining animals are housed in enclosures or kept under monitoring.
Asha had given birth to five cubs around eight months ago, marking an important development in India’s efforts to establish a self-sustaining cheetah population. The latest loss, however, underscores the challenges associated with reintroducing the species into the country, where cheetahs were declared extinct in 1952.
Project Cheetah Faces Continuing Challenges
India launched Project Cheetah in September 2022 by bringing eight cheetahs from Namibia to Kuno National Park in Sheopur district. In February 2023, another 12 cheetahs were translocated from South Africa as part of the programme to restore the species to its historical range.
Since its launch, the initiative has recorded births of cheetah cubs in India, offering hope for the establishment of a breeding population. However, the programme has also faced setbacks, with the deaths of both adult cheetahs and young cubs highlighting the difficulties of adapting the animals to Indian conditions.
The reintroduction programme requires sustained habitat management, sufficient prey availability, veterinary support and scientific monitoring. International cooperation with African countries also remains an important component of the initiative.
Beyond Kuno National Park, four cheetahs are currently housed at Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary and two at Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve. With these animals included, Madhya Pradesh’s total cheetah population stands at 59, of which 41 were born in India.
Forest officials said monitoring of Asha and her four surviving cubs would continue following the death. The findings of the post-mortem examination are expected to help establish the cause of the latest loss.
