Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted this photo on his X handle on December 4, 2025 to acknowledge the growing popularity of cheetah tourism. Photo: X/@narendramodi via ANI
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Thursday released three cheetahs into the wild from their enclosures in Kuno National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district on the occasion of International Cheetah Day.
According to officials, Mr. Yadav released the female cheetah Veera and her two 10-month-old cubs in the Parond forest area of Kuno, a popular tourist zone in the national park.
After the release, Mr Yadav said the drive to bring the big cats back to Asia had now gained momentum and that the state had a third generation of cubs born in November to a female cheetah, Mukhi, born in India.
“Congratulations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Forest Minister Bhupender Yadav and everyone on International Cheetah Day. Today we released three cheetahs in the forest. We even have third generation cubs here. Mukhi was born here and the news of her cubs (in November) was joyful,” he said.
“Sheopur Kuno region has now become a center of international level. Tourism here has increased five times and the way their (cheetah) family is growing, the displaced people of the region will get new employment opportunities in the coming time,” he said while congratulating the state forest officials.
Mr. Yadav also said that the local people of the Chambal region have learned to co-exist with the cheetahs.
The Chief Minister also released the 2026 Kuno National Park calendar along with a newly developed field manual for the clinical management of free-roaming cheetahs in KNP.
On 17 September 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released eight cheetahs, relocated from Namibia, in Kuno, starting India’s cheetah reintroduction program after the species became extinct in 1952. Later, 12 cheetahs were also brought from South Africa and released in Kuno.
The current population of cheetahs in India is 32, including 21 cats born in India. Of the 32, 29 are in KNP, while three have been relocated to Gandhisagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Mandsaur and Neemuch districts. Since the start of the ambitious program, 19 cheetahs, nine relocated adults and 10 cubs born in India have died in Kuno from various causes.
The country is soon to receive eight more cheetahs from Botswana after the African nation formally donated the big cats to India under Project Cheetah as part of a joint wildlife conservation initiative during President Droupadi Murmu’s visit in November.
After being symbolically handed over to President Murmu, the eight cats are currently quarantined in Botswana’s Mokolodi Game Reserve and will be moved to Kuno in a few months, where they will be quarantined again to acclimatize to local conditions.
Published – 04 Dec 2025 19:15 IST
