Female Cheetah Neerva Joins Wild at Kuno National Park, Total Count Reaches 7

Sheopur: Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district recently welcomed another cheetah into the wild, bringing the total count to seven, as confirmed by the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Prakash Kumar Verma. Neerva, a 3-4-year-old female cheetah from South Africa, was released from a spacious enclosure within the park on Sunday evening.

Currently, ten cheetahs remain in enclosures while awaiting release, pending a decision by the steering committee appointed by the Centre. The committee is scheduled to visit KNP on Tuesday.

The reintroduction program initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought eight Namibian cheetahs and later 12 cheetahs from South Africa to KNP. In March, Jwala, a translocated cheetah, gave birth to four cubs, the first cheetahs born in India in decades.

Unfortunately, three of the cubs recently died. Additionally, three adult cheetahs, Daksha, Sasha, and Uday, have passed away at KNP due to various reasons.

Namibian cheetah Sasha died from a kidney-related ailment, Uday from South Africa passed away, and South African cheetah Daksha suffered fatal injuries during a mating attempt.

The conservation efforts aim to reintroduce cheetahs to India after the species was hunted to extinction in the country in 1947.