By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
In a positive development for the Project Cheetah, Indian-born cheetah Mukhi has given birth to five cubs in Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh.
The mother and cubs are doing well, forest officials said on Thursday.
“This is an unprecedented breakthrough for India’s cheetah reintroduction initiative. Mukhi, who is 33 months old, has now become the first India-born cheetah to reproduce making it a landmark achievement for the Project Cheetah,” Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said.
The successful reproduction of an India-born cheetah is a strong indicator of the species’ adaptation, health, and long-term prospects in Indian habitats, experts said. This significant step forward strengthens optimism about establishing a self-sustaining and genetically diverse cheetah population in India, further advancing the nation’s conservation goals, they said.
Union Forest and Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said “this significant development reinforces optimism about establishing a self-sustaining and genetically diverse cheetah population in India, further advancing the nation’s conservation goals”
Meanwhile, Gamini, a female cheetah, is in her exploratory phase of new life in Kuno these days. Gamini along with her four cubs, has already set a unique record covering a whopping 4000 sq km area in 194 days. She is the first cheetah in India to cover such a big distance.
The five-year-old Gamini, who was brought from South Africa, is about to establish her new territory technically called home range in the wild.
Experts at the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII), who are continuously monitoring the cheetahs, said all the cheetahs have adapted to the new environment and are doing well.
Cheetahs were brought from the African continent in 2022-23 as part of a special project to reintroduce them to India after nearly 75 years of extinction.
Three cheetahs, who were recently shifted from Kuno to Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, are also doing well.
With the addition of five new cubs, the total number of cheetahs 32.
All the cheetahs are fitted with radio collars and being monitored around the clock by WII experts to ensure that the plan to maintain their long-term presence in India should not go awry.
On Sept 17, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released eight cheetahs brought from Namibia into a special enclosure at Kuno. It marked the world’s first inter-continental relocation of a large wild carnivore species and also the beginning of the project Cheetah in India.