NEW DELHI — Three cheetah cubs born to a big cat that was brought to India from Africa last year died in central India’s Kuno National Park in the past week, forest officials said, as a heat wave in the region sent temperatures soaring.
The cubs were the first to be born in India in more than seven decades. Once widespread in India, cheetahs became extinct in 1952 from hunting and habitat loss.
Denis Farrell, Associated Press
Two cheetahs are seen inside a quarantine section before being relocated to India at a reserve near Bella Bella, South Africa, on Sept. 4, 2022. Three cheetah cubs, born to a big cat brought to India from Africa last year, died in May amid a sweltering heat wave.
Their mother was among the 20 cheetahs that India flew in from Namibia and South Africa as part of an ambitious and hotly contested plan to reintroduce the world’s fastest land animal to the South Asian country.
The first cub died Tuesday, prompting veterinarians in the national park in Madhya Pradesh state to closely monitor the mother and her three remaining cubs. The cubs appeared weak on Thursday afternoon — a day when temperatures spiked to 113 degrees Fahrenheit — and authorities intervened to help the cats.
They were “weak, underweight and highly dehydrated” and two of them later died, forest officials said in a statement Thursday.
The last surviving cub is being treated in a critical care facility.
Dirk Heinrich, Associated Press
A cheetah lies inside a transport cage at the Cheetah Conservation Fund before being relocated to India in Otjiwarongo, Namibia, on Sept. 16, 2022.
Officials didn’t say what caused the deaths but a scorching heat wave in India is believed to have weakened the cubs. The survival rate of cheetah cubs both in the wild and captivity is low, according to experts.
The cats were introduced with much fanfare and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said the cats would catalyze efforts to conserve India’s neglected grasslands. But of the 20 adult cheetahs imported to India, three — two females and a male — have died.
Fewer than 7,000 adult cheetahs remain in the wild globally, and they now inhabit less than 9% of their original range. Shrinking habitat, due to the increasing human population and climate change, is a huge threat.
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19 ‘playful’ cheetah cubs born at Virginia zoo
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19 ‘playful’ cheetah cubs born at Virginia zoo
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19 ‘playful’ cheetah cubs born at Virginia zoo
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19 ‘playful’ cheetah cubs born at Virginia zoo
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19 ‘playful’ cheetah cubs born at Virginia zoo
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19 ‘playful’ cheetah cubs born at Virginia zoo
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19 ‘playful’ cheetah cubs born at Virginia zoo
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Three cheetah cubs die in India amid sweltering heat wave
Petr David Josek
Four of the newly born cheetah quintuplets rest at their enclosure at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017. The five cubs, three male and two female, were born on May 15, 2017. Scientists say every cheetah cub is critical to saving the species, which is threatened with extinction in the wild. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Petr David Josek
Four of the newly born cheetah quintuplets rest at their enclosure at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017. The five cubs, three male and two female, were born on May 15, 2017. Scientists say every cheetah cub is critical to saving the species, which is threatened with extinction in the wild. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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Three cheetah cubs die in India amid sweltering heat wave
Petr David Josek
Three of the newly born cheetah quintuplets rest at their enclosure with their mother Savannah at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017. The five cubs, three male and two female, were born on May 15, 2017. Scientists say every cheetah cub is critical to saving the species, which is threatened with extinction in the wild. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Petr David Josek
Three of the newly born cheetah quintuplets rest at their enclosure with their mother Savannah at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017. The five cubs, three male and two female, were born on May 15, 2017. Scientists say every cheetah cub is critical to saving the species, which is threatened with extinction in the wild. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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Three cheetah cubs die in India amid sweltering heat wave
Petr David Josek
Three of the newly born cheetah quintuplets rest at their enclosure at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017. The five cubs, three male and two female, were born on May 15, 2017. Scientists say every cheetah cub is critical to saving the species, which is threatened with extinction in the wild. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Petr David Josek
Three of the newly born cheetah quintuplets rest at their enclosure at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017. The five cubs, three male and two female, were born on May 15, 2017. Scientists say every cheetah cub is critical to saving the species, which is threatened with extinction in the wild. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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Three cheetah cubs die in India amid sweltering heat wave
Petr David Josek
One of the newly born cheetah quintuplets is licked by its mother Savannah at their enclosure at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017. The five cubs, three male and two female, were born on May 15, 2017. Scientists say every cheetah cub is critical to saving the species, which is threatened with extinction in the wild. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Petr David Josek
One of the newly born cheetah quintuplets is licked by its mother Savannah at their enclosure at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017. The five cubs, three male and two female, were born on May 15, 2017. Scientists say every cheetah cub is critical to saving the species, which is threatened with extinction in the wild. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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Three cheetah cubs die in India amid sweltering heat wave
Petr David Josek
One of the newly born cheetah quintuplets plays with its mother Savannah at their enclosure at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017. The five cubs, three male and two female, were born on May 15, 2017. Scientists say every cheetah cub is critical to saving the species, which is threatened with extinction in the wild. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Petr David Josek
One of the newly born cheetah quintuplets plays with its mother Savannah at their enclosure at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017. The five cubs, three male and two female, were born on May 15, 2017. Scientists say every cheetah cub is critical to saving the species, which is threatened with extinction in the wild. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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Three cheetah cubs die in India amid sweltering heat wave
Petr David Josek
One of the newly born cheetah quintuplets plays with its mother Savannah at their enclosure at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017. The five cubs, three male and two female, were born on May 15, 2017. Scientists say every cheetah cub is critical to saving the species, which is threatened with extinction in the wild. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Petr David Josek
One of the newly born cheetah quintuplets plays with its mother Savannah at their enclosure at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017. The five cubs, three male and two female, were born on May 15, 2017. Scientists say every cheetah cub is critical to saving the species, which is threatened with extinction in the wild. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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Three cheetah cubs die in India amid sweltering heat wave
Petr David Josek
One of the newly born cheetah quintuplets plays with its mother Savannah at their enclosure at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017. The five cubs, three male and two female, were born on May 15, 2017. Scientists say every cheetah cub is critical to saving the species, which is threatened with extinction in the wild. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Petr David Josek
One of the newly born cheetah quintuplets plays with its mother Savannah at their enclosure at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017. The five cubs, three male and two female, were born on May 15, 2017. Scientists say every cheetah cub is critical to saving the species, which is threatened with extinction in the wild. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
