Madhya Pradesh’s cheetah population suffered a second blow in three days after a 20-month-old male cheetah cub born to South African cheetah Gamini was fatally hit by a speeding car in Gwalior district’s Ghatigaon area early Sunday. The incident occurred around 6.30 am when the two cubs were crossing National Highway-46 near the Ghatigaon forests.
According to an official statement from the field director of the Cheetah Project, “A speeding vehicle (car) struck one of the cubs, killing it instantly. The cheetah tracking team and the local forest staff were continuously monitoring both cubs. The accident happened suddenly even as the tracking team attempted to stop the speeding vehicle from hitting the cheetah.”
The vehicle suspected to have caused the collision was traced hours later in Rajasthan’s Kota district, and a forest offence case has been registered. Officials at Kuno National Park (KNP) said the second cheetah cub is safe, though its exact location has not been disclosed yet. This is the first recorded death of a cheetah—adult or cub due to a vehicle strike since the Cheetah Project began in September 2022 with the arrival of eight Namibian cheetahs.
Sunday’s death comes just two days after a 10-month-old cheetah cub of South African female Veera was found dead in the KNP forests on December 5, a day after it was released into the wild with its mother and sibling. The cub is believed to have been separated from them the same night and is suspected to have died after falling and colliding with rocks near a hillock.
The cub killed on Sunday had been roaming freely since March 17, 2025, when Gamini and her four cubs were released into the open forests of the Khajuri area. With the loss of both cubs aged 10 months and 20 months, the cheetah count inside KNP now stands at 27, including 19 cubs and eight adults. Three more adult cheetahs housed at the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary bring the total in Madhya Pradesh to 30.
Reacting to the twin deaths, Bhopal-based wildlife activist Ajay Dubey said, “The unnatural death streak of cheetahs continues in Madhya Pradesh. A cheetah was run over by a vehicle in the Gwalior district. The MP government has failed to fix responsibility for the criminal negligence.”