Four cheetah cubs, born about a month early, were found dead on Tuesday morning in Kuno National Park. The official said the dead bodies were found partially eaten, as reported by PTI.
“Around 6:30 am this morning, four cubs – born to female cheetah KGP12 on April 11 – were found dead with partially eaten carcasses by a monitoring team near a den in Sheopur territorial division,” the official said, PTI reported.
According to him, the cubs were last seen alive on the evening of May 11.
The death of these cubs appears to have been caused by predation by another animal, the official said.
The mother cheetah is safe and sound. More details will be known after post-mortem and detailed investigation, he said, as reported by PTI.
After the death of these four cubs, there are now 53 cheetahs left in India. While Kuno National Park is home to 50 cheetahs, including 33 born in India, the state’s Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary has three cheetahs, he said.
Field Director, Cheetah Project issues a press release: “Today, 12/05/2026 at around 06:30, four cubs (one month old) of female Cheetah KGP12, born on 11/04/2026 in the wild, were found dead (partially eaten bodies) by the monitoring team near Denu site in Sheopur Territory.
The cubs were last seen alive during the evening of 11/05/2026. Prima facie, the incident appears to have been a predation of another animal. The mother cheetah is safe and sound. Further details will be known after post-mortem and detailed investigation, it added.
Currently, Kuno National Park has 50 cheetahs, including 33 individuals born in India, in addition to 3 cheetahs in the Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary. This brings the total number of cheetahs in India to 53.
Nine cheetahs, including six females and three males, were relocated to Kuno National Park from Botswana in February this year. Previously, eight cheetahs were brought from Namibia on September 17, 2022, and another 12 relocated from South Africa in 2023.
(With input from agencies)
