Four Cheetah Cubs Found Dead in India's Kuno National Park

Four one-month-old cheetah cubs born to a female cheetah in India's Kuno National Park were found dead on Tuesday morning, likely killed by a predator, forest officials confirmed.

The monitoring team discovered the bodies at around 6:30 a.m. near the den site in the Sheopur Territorial Division, outside the park's core territory in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district. The cubs, born on April 11 to female cheetah KGP12, had last been observed alive the previous evening. Their carcasses were partially eaten, indicating predation by another animal, according to Project Cheetah Director Uttam Kumar Sharma.

In an official statement, authorities noted: "Prima facie, the incident appears to be predation by another animal." The mother cheetah remains safe and healthy, and under close monitoring. Necropsy examinations and further investigations are underway to determine the exact cause of death. Officials suggested possible predators such as leopards or hyenas, which commonly threaten young cubs unable to defend themselves. Cheetah cubs under four to five months old have a low survival rate of 5 to 10 percent in the wild, as even mothers struggle to protect them from such threats.