India’s Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Wednesday announced the birth of four cheetah cubs in the country, more than 70 years after they were officially declared extinct. The cubs are offspring of two of eight rehabilitated cheetahs relocated from Namibia to India’s Kuno National Park as part of a government plan to relocate 50 of the big cats in the country over the next five years. Yadav called the birth of the cheetahs a “momentous event in our wildlife conservation history,” while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it “wonderful news.”
The group of cheetahs brought from Namibia consisted of three adult males and five adult females, including the cubs’ parents, Siyaya and Freddie. In February, a dozen more cheetahs were brought from South Africa under an agreement with India to introduce dozens of cheetahs into the country over the next decade.
Cheetahs were declared extinct in India in 1952 due to habitat loss, poaching, and conflict with humans. Under British colonial rule, forests were cleared throughout India to build settlements and plantations, resulting in habitat loss for big cats, including cheetahs.
These endangered cats used to roam the Middle East and central India, as well as most of sub-Saharan Africa, but their populations have been greatly reduced over time. Today, spotted cats are found in southern and eastern Africa, mainly in Namibia, Botswana, Kenya, and Tanzania. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), there are fewer than 7,000 cheetahs left in the wild.