BHOPAL: One of the two cheetah cubs released into the wild, along with their mother, at the Kuno National Park the day before, was found dead on Friday. A South African female cheetah, Veera, was released along with its two cubs from the enclosures into the wild by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav on International Cheetah Day.
“One of Veera’s cubs, which was aged around 10 months, was found dead in the forest on Friday. The cub had been released into the wild along with its sibling and mother, Veera, on Thursday. During the night, the cub got separated from mother and sibling. The exact cause of death will be confirmed after the post-mortem report is received,” Cheetah Project’s field director said in an official statement on Friday night.
“Veera and the other cub, meanwhile, are together and doing well,” the statement said.
CM Dr Mohan Yadav had released six-year-old Veera and two cubs (born in February 2025) into the wild in Kuno National Park’s (KNP) Parond Forest Area, marking the International Cheetah Day on Thursday.
After Friday's tragic development, the KNP in Sheopur district now has 28 cheetahs, including eight Namibian and South African adults (five females and three males) and 20 India-born cubs.
As many as 18 out of the 28 surviving cheetahs at the KNP, including Veera and her lone surviving 10-month-old cub, are hunting in the wild, while the remaining ten cheetahs, including 33-month-old Mukhi and her five cubs, are housed in the protected enclosures.
The death of Veera’s cub is the second death of an India-born cheetah cub in less than three months.
On September 15, a 20-month-old female cub of Namibian cheetah Jwala, had died in the KNP jungles, reportedly after an encounter with a co-predator leopard.
Jwala, along with four cubs, was released from the enclosure into the jungles in February and now continue to be in the same forests with three surviving cubs.