Kuno: India’s wild cheetah population rose to 60 on Monday after the birth of five cubs at the Kuno National Park. This also ushered in the Botswana lineage.
KJP21, a 32-month-old female born in India, gave birth to the five cubs after mating with a male from Botswana.
This makes the newborns the first representatives of the Botswana lineage to be born in India, Union minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav said.
The births take India’s cheetah population to 60, of which 41 have been born in the country. KJP21 is the third female cheetah born in India to reproduce, after Mukhi and KGP12, The Indian Express reported.
“With the arrival of these five cubs, the cheetah population in India has reached 60, including 41 Indian-born cheetahs. Importantly, these cubs also mark the beginning of the Botswana lineage in India, as their father is a Botswana male cheetah – adding a new genetic lineage to India’s growing cheetah population,” Yadav said.
India had brought a fresh batch of Cheetahs from Botswana just a few months ago. This was done to strengthen the genetic base of Project Cheetah.
Nine cheetahs – six females and three males – arrived at Kuno from Botswana in February this year. They were the third group of cheetahs brought to India, after eight from Namibia in 2022 and 12 from South Africa in 2023.
The cheetah transfer from Botswana followed a fresh round of government-to-government discussions that began in December 2024. The Union government formally approached Botswana as it looked to expand the genetic base of Project Cheetah beyond the animals already brought from Namibia and South Africa.
Yadav took up the proposal with Botswana’s then environment minister Boipuso Wynter Mmolotsi. Botswana agreed to partner with India after considering the country’s detailed Action Plan for Cheetah Reintroduction.
The partnership received a political push during President Droupadi Murmu’s state visit to Botswana in November 2025. During her visit, Murmu and Botswana president Duma Gideon Boko witnessed the symbolic release of eight cheetahs, captured from the Ghanzi region, into a quarantine facility at the Mokolodi Nature Reserve.
Botswana has one of Africa’s largest remaining wild cheetah populations and the decision to get the animals from there was significant. The first batch from Botswana was transported from the Mokolodi Nature Reserve to Gaborone and then flown to India with the assistance of the Indian Air Force before being taken by helicopter to Kuno.
The animals underwent quarantine and the two sides worked through the necessary permissions, including export and CITES clearances, veterinary requirements and arrangements for transporting the animals to India after the November handover.
A three-member Botswana delegation, including veterinarians and an anti-poaching expert, subsequently visited both Kuno National Park and Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary and held discussions with National Tiger Conservation Authority officials in Delhi.
