Cheetah reintroduction in India

A cheetah brought from South Africa to India has died, wildlife officials said, the second such death within a month in a country where the big spotted cat was declared extinct seven decades ago.

So far, 12 cheetahs from South Africa and eight from Namibia have been brought to India after its top court ruled in 2020 that the species should be reintroduced.

Two Namibian cheetahs relocated to India last year were released into the wild, more than seven decades after the world's fastest land animal was declared extinct in the South Asian country.

"Both cheetahs are doing good," India's Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav tweeted Saturday after the male and female darted from quarantine enclosures of Kuno National Park into the wild.

Seven decades after cheetahs died out in India, they're back. Eight big cats from Namibia made the long trek on Sept. 17 in a chartered cargo flight to the northern Indian city of Gwalior, part of an ambitious and hotly contested plan to reintroduce cheetahs to the South Asian country.

An Asiatic cheetah gave birth to three "healthy" cubs in Iran, the head of the environment department said on May 1, calling it a first in captivity for the endangered species.

"Iran," one of only a dozen cheetahs found in the Islamic republic, delivered three "healthy" cubs by C-section, Ali Salajegheh told IRNA news agency.