A South African female Cheetah, Neerva, has given birth to cubs at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh. According KNP officials, the number of cubs is not yet known.
“Female Cheetah Neerva has given birth to cubs, most probably last night or early Monday morning,” KNP Director Uttam Sharma told The Statesman on Monday. “We are not yet certain about the number of cubs born. It would be known if we get a chance to go close to the litter when the mother leaves the cubs for sometime and goes for hunting. It might be known in a day or two,” he said.
The official said the female cheetah is four-and-a-half-years old and this is its first litter. He said the mother cheetah is fine and teams of KNP are continuously monitoring her from a distance.Once the exact number of Neerva’s cubs is known, the total number of cubs at KNP would go up from the present 11. Till now 17 cubs have been born to different female cheetahs at KNP. Of them, five have died.
The total number of cheetahs at KNP is currently 24, including 11 cubs that are less than a year old, one sub-adult cheetah that is 20 months old and 12 adults.