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Rare Cheetah Coalition Forms in India’s Kuno National Park
Confirmed
In Short: Exactly four years after the cheetah project was launched in India, wildlife officials at Kuno National Park are celebrating a rare male coalition of cheetahs, a phenomenon that typically does not occur among unrelated males of this species.
According to Uttam Kumar Sharma, director of Kuno National Park, 'This is a very rare phenomenon,' and the animals have been observed sharing a kill without aggression, establishing a cooperative relationship.
Wildlife officials note that male cheetahs generally become less accepting of another unrelated male as they grow older, but these two cheetahs, KNG23 and an unnamed cheetah, have formed a coalition despite their age difference of around six to seven months.
What's confirmed
- According to Uttam Kumar Sharma, director of Kuno National Park, 'This is a very rare phenomenon,' and the animals have been observed sharing a kill without aggression, establishing a cooperative relationship.
- Wildlife officials note that male cheetahs generally become less accepting of another unrelated male as they grow older, but these two cheetahs, KNG23 and an unnamed cheetah, have formed a coalition despite their age difference of around six to seven months.
What's still developing
- Exactly four years after the ambitious cheetah project was launched in India, wildlife officials at Kuno have begun celebrating this unusual male coalition, usually made up of siblings.
- “These were no longer simply two cheetahs tolerating each other. They were beginning to behave like a team. A coalition was taking shape,” said a wildlife official.
- “If you look at the cheetah project over these four years, it has progressed step by step,” Sharma said.
- At Kuno, KNG23 was born in March this year to a cheetah named Nirva.
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