Visitors to Kuno National Park often arrive expecting quiet grasslands and long, patient hours of watching the horizon. But this week, the silence broke at dawn with soft, high-pitched calls since the rangers had stumbled upon something extraordinary. Hidden in the golden grass was Mukhi, a young Indian-born cheetah, curled protectively around five tiny cubs. It is a scene many hoped to witness one day, but few expected so soon: India’s first Indian-born cheetah has now given birth, marking a breakthrough moment for the country’s ambitious cheetah reintroduction programme.
The Madhya Pradesh government confirmed the development on Thursday, sharing visuals that quickly travelled across social media. Mukhi, now 33 months old, is not just any cheetah; she is a symbol of resilience, survival, and now—renewal.