Kuno Cheetah’s 6th Cub Spotted Taking Feline Population In Park To 27
Gamini, the South African female cheetah brought to Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh, gave birth to six cubs in one litter, and not five as reported last week.
Union Forest, Environment and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Singh Yadav broke the news on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, on Monday.
With this, the cheetah population in Kuno has increased to 27 which includes 14 cubs and 13 adults.
The sixth cub was spotted by the officials of the park on Monday, a senior forest official of KNP told this newspaper, unwilling to be quoted.
“The sixth cub somehow dodged our eyes earlier. But, the cub survived due to the protective cover given by its mother. A first-time mother cheetah usually delivers four cubs in one litter. Giving birth to six cubs by a first-time mother cheetah is a record of sorts”, the forest officer said.
The Union minister appeared overwhelmed with joy when he shared the video of the sixth cub of Gamini on X.
“A week after the news of five cubs born to Gamini, the South African cheetah mother has given birth to six cubs, a record of sorts for the first-time mother. Sharing the joy with visuals of Gamin’s adorable six cubs”, Mr Yadav said in his X post.
Although, the park authorities faced a challenge to save the 14 cubs in Kuno with summer reaching peak, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) (wildlife) of Madhya Pradesh Aseem Srivastav said that “We are now better equipped to deal with the situation including peak summer season’.
Mr Srivastav said that earlier, a few newborn cubs died due to dehydration in the summer. But, the authorities have learnt from the past experience.
Measures are undertaken to create shades and ensure water availability in the park. A mechanism to ensure that the cubs remain close to their mothers has been put in place.
Besides, the tracking system has been improvised to ensure 24X7 monitoring of their movements.
Eight cheetahs from Namibia and 12 from South Africa were brought to Kuno in a cheetah introduction project a couple of years ago.
Seven adults and three cubs have died due to various reasons.
