BHOPAL: In a boost to India’s ambitious Project Cheetah, the country’s total cheetah count crossed the half-century mark on Monday, with Namibian cheetah Jwala, aka Siyaya, giving birth to five cubs at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park (KNP)—which has been the first home to African cheetahs in India since September 17, 2022.
Following this latest development, the number of cheetahs in India – at KNP and Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary (both in MP) – has touched 53, which includes 33 cubs (all at KNP) and 20 adults from Namibia, South Africa and Botswana, out of which three adult SA cheetahs are housed at Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary.
The five cubs born to Jwala marked the tenth successful litter of cheetahs in India. This latest development also means that all six adult females in KNP have now successfully reproduced.
The development also meant that Jwala was the first granny at KNP to have given birth to cubs, as her lone surviving cub from the first litter (March 2023), Mukhi, had turned mother of five cubs in November 2025.
All those five cubs are reportedly thriving. According to the official statement from KNP, over the past three-and-a-half years, the African mothers have reproduced 45 cubs, out of which 33 are surviving and thriving.
While four cubs were born in 2023, out of which just one survived, nine out of the 15 cubs born in 2024 are surviving and thriving, while out of the 12 cubs born in 2025, nine are thriving at the KNP. Just into its third month only, 2026 saw a maximum number of 14 cubs being born at KNP, and all of them are surviving and thriving. This trend also displays the improvement in the survival rate of cheetah cubs.
14 cubs at KNP this year
Over the past three-and-a-half years, the African mothers have reproduced 45 cubs, out of which 33 are surviving and thriving. While four cubs were born in 2023, out of which just one survived, nine out of the 15 cubs born in 2024 are surviving and thriving, while out of the 12 cubs born in 2025, nine are thriving at the KNP. Just into its third month only, 2026 saw as many as 14 cubs being born at the KNP.