2 cubs born to African cheetah Neerva found dead at Kuno National Park | How many cubs are living in KNP?

Prior to the demise of two cubs, 17 cheetah cubs were born at the KNP, where the fastest land animals on Earth were translocated from Namibia more than two years ago.

Two cubs born to African cheetah Neerva were found dead at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday. The officials said their mutilated carcasses were recovered at the KNP. 

The forest officials came to know about the death of two cubs after radio telemetry about Neerva cheetah was not found near her den. 

"A team of forest staffers monitoring the movement of cheetahs received signals through radio telemetry about Neerva was away from her den, following which they along with veterinarians rushed to the spot for inspection and found mutilated carcasses of the two cubs," the forest official said.

"After inspecting all possible places inside the boma, they concluded that no proof was found about the existence of any more cheetah cubs," he added. Neerva is found to be healthy, the official said. 

"The samples of the dead cubs were collected and sent for examination. The exact cause of their death will be known once we get a lab report," he said, adding that all other adult cheetahs and 12 cubs are in a healthy condition. 17 cheetah cubs had been born at the KNP, 12 of those cubs survived. The count of cheetahs was last reported to be 24 at KNP.

Confusion prevails over the exact number of cubs 

Confusion prevailed on Monday over the exact number of cubs that Neerva gave birth to. An hour after informing on social media that four cubs were born to African cheetah Neerva at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said the forest department will confirm the exact number of the newborns soon.

Yadav's X handle deleted an earlier post and replaced it with a new message that stated, "Today the Cheetah Project has achieved a major milestone. In Cheetah State Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park, a female Cheetah Neerva has given birth to cubs. The Forest Department will soon confirm the number of cubs."

In a post on the social media platform at around 5.30 pm, he said, "Today the Cheetah Project has achieved great success. In Kuno National Park of our - Cheetah State Madhya Pradesh - the female cheetah Neerva has given birth to four cubs, which is a great achievement not only for the state but also for the country."

His X handle, however, deleted this tweet and posted a fresh message at around 6.30 pm, in which he deleted the number of cubs born to Neerva.

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