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Four cheetah cubs, calved successful April, were recovered dormant connected Tuesday (May 12, 2026) successful the Kuno National Park (KNP) successful Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district, officials said, suspecting that they whitethorn person go prey to a leopard successful the wild.
According to officials, the carcasses of the one-month-old cubs partially eaten were recovered astir 6.30 a.m., by a monitoring squad adjacent the den tract successful Sheopur Territorial Division. The litter had been calved to pistillate cheetah KGP12 connected April 11 successful the wild.
‘Mother cheetah is safe’
“The cubs were past observed live during the evening of May 11. Prima facie, the incidental appears to beryllium predation by different animal. The parent cheetah is harmless and healthy. Further details volition beryllium known aft post-mortem introspection and elaborate investigation,” Kuno Field Director and Project Cheetah Director Uttam Kumar Sharma said successful a statement.
The deaths clasp value arsenic the 4 cubs were the archetypal to beryllium calved successful the unfastened wood since India’s reintroduction programme for the large feline taxon — Project Cheetah — was launched successful 2022, arsenic each erstwhile births person taken spot wrong Kuno’s large-ranging enclosures. The litter had taken India’s cheetah colonisation to 57.
Probe nether way: official
Madhya Pradesh Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) and Chief Wildlife Warden (CWLW) Samita Rajora told The Hindu that marks of a leopard onslaught person been recovered connected their bodies during the post-mortem examinations and that a thorough probe was nether mode into the incident.
“It’s a leopard affluent country wherever the parent and the cubs were venturing soon aft they were born. The cubs had besides started moving retired present and it appears that they ran into an untoward enactment with a leopard,” Ms. Rajora said, adding that the pistillate was a first-time mother.
“It was her archetypal brushwood with a leopard and besides successful a reasonably caller territory. She whitethorn person tried to support her cubs but could not bash so,” the authoritative said.
Ms. Rajora added that the parent cheetah did not endure immoderate injuries and volition proceed to enactment successful the chaotic for now.
“While this is simply a setback for her and for us, it is besides the earthy process of the nature. We’re definite that she volition larn from this and commencement much kids successful the future. And adjacent time, we judge she volition beryllium prepared,” the main wildlife warden said.
Ms. Rajora highlighted that specified conflicts are 1 of the main challenges of Project Cheetah fixed the rising density of cheetahs.
This is the largest fig of cheetah casualties astatine Kuno successful 1 instance, which witnessed the commencement of respective cubs successful caller months.
‘Learning to adapt’
“While we volition instrumentality steps to support them, it is besides important that they larn to accommodate successful the chaotic connected their own,” she said.
Earlier successful December past year, 2 cubs from the nationalist parkland had died with 1 of them being deed by a conveyance portion crossing the Agra Mumbai National Highway (NH-46) successful Gwalior district. The different had fallen disconnected a hillock.
With the latest deaths, the full cheetah colonisation successful the state has travel down to 53, with 50 of them, including 33 Indian-born individuals, astatine Kuno. Additionally, 3 cheetahs are astatine the Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary successful Mandsaur and Neemuch districts.
Earlier connected May 11, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav released 2 cheetahs, from the batch of 9 translocated from Botswana successful February, into the unfastened forest. The 9 large cats had earlier been released into the large-ranging enclosures aft they completed their mandatory one-month quarantine.
