Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted this photo on his X handle appreciating the growing popularity of cheetah tourism, on Thursday. (ANI via @narendramodi X)
| Photo Credit: ANI
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Thursday released three Cheetahs into the wild from their enclosures at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district, on the occasion of the International Cheetah Day.
According to officials, Mr. Yadav released female Cheetah Veera and her two 10 month old cubs in the Parond forest region of Kuno, a popular tourism zone in the national park.
After the release, Mr. Yadav said that the pledge of bringing the big cats back to Asia has picked up pace now and that the State has third generation cubs, born to Indian born female Cheetah Mukhi in November.
“I congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Forest Minister Bhupender Yadav, and everyone on International Cheetah Day. Today, we have released three Cheetahs in the forest. We even have cubs of the third generation here. Mukhi was born here and the news of her cubs [in November] was a happy one,” he said.
“Sheopur Kuno region has now become an international level centre. The tourism here has gone up five times and the way their [Cheetahs’] family is growing, the displaced people of the region will get new work opportunities in the coming time,” he said, congratulating the State’s forest officials.
Mr. Yadav also said that the local population of the Chambal region has learnt to co exist with the Cheetahs.
The Chief Minister also released the Kuno National Park calendar for 2026 along with the newly developed Field Manual for Clinical Management of Free Ranging Cheetahs in KNP.
On September 17, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had released eight Cheetahs, translocated from Namibia, at Kuno, kickstarting India’s Cheetah reintroduction programme after the species’ extinction in 1952. Later, 12 Cheetahs were also brought from South Africa and released at Kuno.
India’s current Cheetah population stands at 32, including 21 Indian born cats now. Of the 32, 29 are at the KNP while three have been relocated to the Gandhisagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Mandsaur and Neemuch districts. Since the beginning of the ambitious programme, 19 Cheetahs, nine translocated adults and 10 India born cubs, have died at Kuno due to various causes.
The country is slated to receive eight more Cheetahs soon from Botswana, after the African nation formally donated the big cats to India under Project Cheetah as part of a mutual initiative for wildlife conservation, during President Droupadi Murmu’s visit in November.
After they were symbolically handed over to President Murmu, the eight cats are currently under quarantine at Botswana’s Mokolodi nature reserve and will be translocated to Kuno in a few months, where they will again be quarantined to help them adapt to local conditions.
Published – December 04, 2025 07:15 pm IST
