New Delhi – India’s cheetah conservation programme has achieved a breakthrough, with the country’s first India-born female cheetah successfully giving birth to five cubs. Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav shared the development on social media, describing it as a significant step forward for Project Cheetah, according to a PIB release.
According to the minister, the female cheetah named Mukhi, now 33 months old, marks a historic moment by becoming the first Indian-born cheetah in recent decades to reproduce. Officials say the birth of the cubs is a strong indicator that the animals are adapting well to Indian conditions and that the project is moving towards building a stable, genetically diverse cheetah population in the country.
The minister said in a post on X that both Mukhi and her cubs are healthy, calling the event an encouraging signal for India’s long-term cheetah revival strategy.
The successful birth has been welcomed by conservationists as further evidence that the reintroduction initiative – launched to restore the species after its extinction in India more than 70 years ago – is beginning to show promising results.
