Bhopal: The three-year-old female cheetah 'Siyaya', translocated to India from Namibia on September 17, 2022, gave birth to four cubs around five days ago, said Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh JS Chouhan on Wednesday. "The three-year-old female cheetah 'Siyaya' translocated to India from Namibia on September 17, 2022, gave birth to four cubs around five days ago," Chouhan said
"The cubs are safe in a pre-release enclosure. When the mother cheetah will bring out the cubs into the open then we'll know about their gender," he added. Meanwhile, Union Cabinet Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav shared a video of the four cubs born to 'Siyaya'.
Eight cheetahs brought from Namibia were released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Kuno National Park on the occasion of his birthday on September 17, 2022. Radio collars have been installed on all the cheetahs and they are monitored through satellite. Apart from this, there is a dedicated monitoring team behind each cheetah that keeps monitoring the location for 24 hours.
Under the ambitious project of the Indian government - Project Cheetah - the reintroduction of wild species particularly cheetahs is being undertaken as per the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines. India has a long history of wildlife conservation. One of the most successful wildlife conservation ventures 'Project Tiger' which was initiated way back in 1972, has not only contributed to the conservation of tigers but also of the entire ecosystem.
In 1947-48, the last three cheetahs were hunted by the Maharaja of Koriya in Chhattisgarh and the last cheetah was seen at the same time. In 1952 the government of India declared the cheetah extinct and now the Modi government has restored cheetahs in India after almost 75 years. (ANI)
