March 29th was a special day for officials at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, as it was the first birth anniversary of ‘Mukhi’, the first female cub born on Indian soil after the union government’s flagship project cheetah whereby eight cheetahs were brought from Namibia. The exuberant forest officials celebrated by singing Happy Birthday to the Big Cat and cutting a cake to mark the auspicious occasion.
On March 29th, 2023, a female cheetah, “Jwala,” brought from the African country of Namibia, gave birth to four cubs. Out of them, three passed away, and this female cub, Mukhi, was the sole survivor who was saved due to the hard work and constant monitoring by wildlife experts and veterinarians of the National Park.
Mukhi’s condition was extremely critical at the time of parturition but the efforts at supervision and treatment by doctors and other forest officials kept her alive, and her condition improved gradually. Needless to say, Mukhi is completely healthy now. The DFO of Kuno National Park, Mr. Thirukkural R, says that since Mukhi was separated from her mother due to her health complications, she lived a lonely life from a young age. The forest officials released a short video on Mukhi’s first birth date to describe her one-year life journey.
