New Cheetah Litter of Four at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park

After four years of India’s Project Cheetah, the total population of African cheetahs under the programme in the country is now 56.

The Wire Staff

After four years of India’s Project Cheetah, the total population of African cheetahs under the programme in the country is now 56.

new cheetah litter of four at madhya pradesh’s kuno national park

Image posted by field director of Kuno National Park, Uttam Kumar Sharma. X/@Uttam_K_Sharma

New Delhi: An Indian-born cheetah has given birth to a litter of four in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park announced Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav on Friday (September 18).

“Historic” moment

He took to social media platform X to say that KGP12, born to South African cheetah Gamini in India, had given birth to the new litter.

Yadav called the birth of the new litter of four cheetah cubs a “truly historic and joyous moment” for the project.

“A day after India's Cheetah Project completed four years, KGP12, an Indian-born female cheetah, has given birth to four cubs in Kuno. Four years, four new lives – a beautiful symbol of hope, resilience and the growing success of cheetah conservation in India,” he wrote.

New tally: 56 cheetahs

Field Director of Kuno National Park Uttam Kumar Sharma in his social media post said this takes the total number of African cheetahs under Project Cheetah to 56.

A truly historic and joyous moment for Project Cheetah!
On 18 September 2026, as the Project completes four years in Kuno, KGP12, an Indian-born female cheetah, gave birth to four healthy cubs.
With this, India’s cheetah population rises to 56, including 36 Indian-born cheetahs. pic.twitter.com/T6nfFKNMrU
— Uttam Kumar Sharma (@Uttam_K_Sharma) September 18, 2026

In March, cheetah Jwala gave birth to five cubs, the government had said, and that the total number of cheetahs then were 53.

In April, Project Cheetah recorded its first litter born in the wild (and not within an enclosure in the Park, as had happened till then) with the same cheetah (KGP12) giving birth to four cubs. However, a month later, all four cubs were found dead inside the Park. Their bodies were partially-eaten, and the Field Director of Kuno had told The Wire that the cubs may have been killed by a leopard.

In June, Indian-born female cheetah KGP11, aged 27 months, died while under treatment at the veterinary facility in Palpur.

This article went live on September eighteenth, two thousand twenty six, at thirty-nine minutes past eight in the evening.

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