Four cheetahs are born in India for the first time in seven decades
Four cheetah cubs have just been born in recent days in India, a first in more than 70 years and the extinction of this species (illustration photo). © Denis Farrell - AP
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Four cheetah babies have just been born in recent days in India, a first in more than 70 years and the extinction of this species. The parents of these cubs had recently been transferred from Namibia to an Indian park, as part of a major program to reintroduce the animal into the country.
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With our correspondent in New Delhi, Sébastien Farcis
It is a three-year-old female cheetah, arrived last September from Namibia, who has just given birth to four small cats in Kuno Park, in central India. Becoming the first cheetahs born on Indian soil since the last were hunted in the late 1940s.
Considering that the gestation period of cheetahs is about three months, it is certain that conception did take place in India, which is a good sign. But this is only the beginning of this attempt to reintroduce the species.
So far, of the 20 animals that arrived from Namibia and South Africa, only two were released into the wild two weeks ago. The others remain in protected enclosures, and are therefore little exposed to the real dangers of nature. A female has even just died in this space, due to a kidney problem.
►Read more: Narendra Modi welcomes cheetahs for an ambitious reintroduction project in India
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Read on on the same topics:
- India
- Namibia
- Fauna
- Environment