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Five cheetah cubs born at Kuno as India’s cheetah population reaches 60

Conservation: Reintroductions & translocations, Population & status

A female cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) born in India has given birth to five cubs at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. The mother, identified as KJP21, is 32 months old.

In an announcement on 5 October 2026, India’s environment ministry put the country’s cheetah population at 60, including 41 animals born in India. KJP21 is the third Indian-born female to give birth, after Mukhi and KGP12.

The cubs’ father is a male cheetah from Botswana. The litter marks the beginning of a new genetic lineage in India’s cheetah population, with its origin in Botswana: the cubs carry that ancestry into the population. The five cubs are included in the reported total, and the ministry described them as healthy at birth.

Sources and image credit

  1. Indian-born Cheetah gives birth to 5 Healthy Cubs at Kuno National Park; India’s Cheetah Population reaches 60Official ministry announcement verifying the birth, location, mother’s age and identity, reported population total, prior Indian-born mothers, and the father’s origin in Botswana.

Image: Joachim Huber / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. Representative photograph. · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source

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