Bhopal, Jan 3 (IANS): The new year began with good news for Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh as the Namibian cheetah Aasha gave birth to three cubs on Wednesday. All three cubs are reported to be healthy.

Union Forest Minister Bhupendra Yadav shared a video on his social media account, expressing his happiness on the birth of the cubs at KNP.

He said their birth was a sign of success of India’s ambitious ‘Project Cheetah’ introduced in MP on September 17, 2022.

“Purrs in the wild! Thrilled to share that Kuno National Park has welcomed three new members. The cubs have been born to Namibian Cheetah Aasha. This is a roaring success for Project Cheetah, envisioned by PM Modi to restore ecological balance. My big congrats to all experts involved in the project, the Kuno wildlife officials, and wildlife enthusiasts across India,” Yadav said.

Asha was pregnant at the time of translocation from Namibia as well but had miscarried, probably due to stress.

The new cubs have pushed the total number of cheetahs at KNP to 18, further giving a boost to India's cheetah conservation project.

Five-year-old Aasha, known as 'F1' before she was renamed, had ventured out of the park a couple of times, but returned on her own.

Importantly, it is the second time cheetah cubs have been born at the park since the first batch of eight Namibian cheetahs were brought to India.

Notably, earlier in March last year, Namibian cheetah Siyaya had given birth to four cubs, however, they died due to heat stroke after two months of their birth and only cub survived, who is now healthy.