3 min readBhopalUpdated: May 12, 2026 08:18 PM IST
The deaths of four one-month-old cheetah cubs in the wild at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park on Tuesday marked a setback for India’s ambitious cheetah reintroduction programme, which had recently witnessed a sharp rise in births and expanding populations inside and outside protected enclosures.
Officials said the cubs, born on April 11 to female cheetah, KGP12, in the Sheopur Territorial Division adjoining Kuno, were found dead around 6.30 am by monitoring teams near the den site. The bodies were partially eaten. According to the Field Director of the Cheetah Project, the cubs had been seen alive on Monday evening.
“Prima facie, the incident appears to be predation by another animal,” said a senior wildlife official, adding that the mother cheetah was safe and healthy. Postmortem examinations and a detailed investigation are underway to determine the exact cause of death.
The deaths come at a time when the Cheetah Project had been seeing signs of stabilisation after a difficult initial phase marked by deaths of the big cats.
Just days ago, Madhya Pradesh authorities were celebrating the success of Project Cheetah at Kuno National Park. On May 10, coinciding with Mother’s Day celebrations, park authorities released a short film featuring female cheetahs and their cubs. A day later, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav released two female cheetahs brought from Botswana from their enclosures into the open forest.
KGP12’s litter was among the latest additions to what officials had described as a “baby boom” in Kuno. Since the arrival of African cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa beginning in September 2022, multiple females have given birth in India.
With the death of the four cubs, Kuno currently houses 50 cheetahs, including the Indian-born animals, while three more are being housed at Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary. The total cheetah population in India now stands at 53, officials said.
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Tuesday’s deaths revive concerns over cub survival rates in the project. Several cubs born in Kuno over the past two years have died due to various causes, including extreme heat, weakness, abandonment, and suspected infections.
