Queen Siyaya & Freddie rock, 4 cheetah cubs born at Kuno
- Bhopal: Four baby cheetahs are mewing and waddling about in the heart of India-for the -first time in over 70 years. They are the first cheetah cubs to be born in the wild in the country since cheetahs went extinct and mark a big step in the mission to revive its population in Indian jungles.
- The quartet was born to Siyaya and 'rockstar' Freddie in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park on March 24, three days before cheetah Sasha di- ed of a kidney ailment. Siyaya means 'moving forward' who knew when they named her that a cheetah found at a waterhole in Namibia would lead the way in one of the most ambitious wildlife revival missions in the world?
- Prime Minister Modi called it a "wonderful moment in India's wildlife conservation Bhupendra Yadav joyfully announced the birth of the cheetah cubs on Twitter and MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan expressed his joy at the arrival of the cubs.
- According to an officer at Kuno, the cubs appear to be healthy. Their gender is not known yet. Siyaya has hunted twice since giving birth five days ago, indicating she and her cubs are responding well to their new environment.
- Conservation biologist Eli Walker of Cheetah Conservation Fund, working with the Indian monitoring team, detected Siyaya's movements via GPS collar and observed her returning to the same lo- cation over an extended period, indicating that she had given birth. They waited for her to go out hunting before confirming the presence of the cubs, which were spotted on Wednesday.
- Based on the cub's birthdate of March 24, it was determined that Siyaya conceived around 90-93 days earlier, sometime in December. Freddie had been observed with Siyaya on December 25 and saw her leave on December 26, indicating that he is likely the father.
- The authorities' concern now is leopards, which could kill the cubs as competitors if they find them.