Two cheetah cubs found dead at Kuno

Two cubs born to African cheetah Neerva were found dead and their mutilated carcasses were recovered at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, an official said.

A team of forest staffers monitoring the movement of cheetahs received signals through radio telemetry that Neerva was away from her den, following which they along with veterinarians rushed to the spot and found the mutilated carcasses of the two cubs inside, he said.

After inspecting all possible places inside the enclosure, they concluded that no proof was found about the existence of any more cheetah cubs there, the official said.

“No other cheetah cubs were found inside the enclosure, which reflects that Neerva gave birth to only two cubs. The carcasses of the two newborns will be cremated on Thursday,” Project Cheetah Director Uttam Kumar Sharma said.

All adult cheetahs, including Neerva, and the rest of the 12 cubs at the Kuno park were healthy, the official said. With 12 of those cubs surviving, the count of cheetahs at KNP was last reported to be 24.

Confusion prevailed on Monday over the number of cubs Neerva gave birth to. CM Mohan Yadav initially claimed on social media that it delivered four cubs, but later deleted the post. In a new post that evening, Yadav wrote, “In Kuno National Park, a female Cheetah Neerva has given birth to cubs. The Forest Department will soon confirm the number of cubs.”