Although the love is mother is elusive, but Kuno’s only cheetah cub has the entire wildlife department doting on it.

The cub is yet to be named, and he has turned 6 months old on September 24.

Veterinarians and wildlife officials are putting all their energies into ensuring the “future of Kuno” survives. More so since the female cub is being “neglected” by its mother, Namibian cheetah Jwala, who doesn’t answer to its cries.

“We are working towards ensuring the survival of the cub. I saw it 15 days ago; it is healthy and eating well. We expect to shift it to a bigger enclosure, and in a year’s time, it may learn to hunt on its own. Since it was separated from its mother, it will take time. We have experience with tiger cubs learning to hunt on their own within two years,” Cheetah Steering Committee head Dr Rajesh Gopal told The Indian Express.

The cub’s mother is known to avoid human contact and is considered a good hunter. It gave birth to four cubs after a mating interaction with Gaurav, part of a coalition of cheetahs known in Kuno as the Rockstars.

Wildlife officials had celebrated the birth of the cubs by releasing their video on mother’s day. But their joy was short-lived as “temperatures crossed 45 degrees after May 15”, when Jwala began hunting while the cubs followed.

Wildlife officials said that on May 22, temperatures crossed 47 degrees, and the next day Jwala lost its first cub. With no respite in the heat, two other cubs died, while the sole survivor walked on with its mother.

According to an official, as the last cub “showed signs of exhaustion and weakness, wildlife officials took the decision to remove it from its mother for a medical examination”.

The cub was dehydrated and weighed around 1.5 kg, but it recovered within a week. Due to the extreme heat, its reunion with Jwala was put off. On July 1, the cub was brought to a quarantine bomma and was “very excited to see its mother”, having spent eight days away.

To read the full story https://indianexpress.com/article/india/relationship-with-mother-complex-but-kunos-only-cheetah-cub-has-many-guardians-8941769/lite/