In some splendid news for nature lovers the number of cheetahs in India has now increased to 38 after three new cubs were born at Kuno National Park in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
The South African female cheetah, Gamini, gave birth to her second litter of three cubs taking the total number of surviving India-born cubs to 27.
India had imported 20 cheetahs to revive the feline population in the country after it had gone extinct around the 1950s. Eight cats were imported from Namibia and 12 from South Africa in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
The original lot of cheetahs has had nine litters of cubs so far. Gamini herself is a second time mother. Four of her first litter of cubs still survive and are now sub-adults.
Cheetah females can breed when they are close to two years old. Males mature slightly later. Breeding can occur year-round, with females having litters every 15–19 months on average, if conditions allow. In India's project, the first India-born females from 2023 litters are now approaching or at breeding age, around 2–3 years old, so second-generation births could happen soon.
With the cheetah population in India nearly doubling through natural breeding in 3 to 4 years and 8 more cheetahs scheduled to arrive from Botswana by end of this month, indications are that India is moving toward a self-sustaining cheetah population.
This is a strong sign of cheetah adaptation and breeding success!
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