According to a video tweet by the Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, Siyaya, a cheetah relocated to India from Namibia has given birth to four cubs.

He termed it a “momentous event” in India’s wildlife conservation history during ‘Amrit Kaal’.

“I am delighted to share that four cubs have been born to one of the cheetahs translocated to India on 17th September 2022, under the visionary leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi ji.” he tweeted.

Project Cheetah on its way to success

He posted a picture of the cubs on Twitter along with a clip of them making some tiny roars.  In September of last year, the cheetahs were transported from Namibia to Kuno in Madhya Pradesh as part of the government’s ambitious initiative to restore the spotted felines to India.

The minister commended the entire Project Cheetah team for their persistent efforts to bring the giant carnivore back to India and for their efforts to right a historical ecological wrong.

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The Cheetahs reintroduction program

On September 17, 2017, the day before his 72nd birthday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the first group of eight spotted cats – five females and three males – from Namibia into a quarantine facility at Kuno in Madhya Pradesh as part of the ambitious Cheetah Restoration effort.

According to Madhya Pradesh’s forest and wildlife officials, Sasha, one of the Namibian cheetahs, passed away on Monday as a result of kidney-related complications.

In a second such translocation, 12 cheetahs were flown in from South Africa and released into Kuno on February 18.

Due to overhunting and habitat destruction, the cheetah is the only big carnivore that was entirely eradicated from India. In 1947, the last cheetah perished in the Koriya district of modern-day Chhattisgarh, and in 1952 the species was officially deemed extinct. It is very important for a diverse nation like India to protect its wildlife and culture.