India has welcomed the birth of four young cheetah cubs – more than 70 years after the animals were officially declared extinct in the country. India's environment minister announced the good news, calling it a "significant event," reports "BBC".

The country has been trying to reintroduce wild cats for decades, and last year brought eight cheetahs from Namibia as part of the plan. Another 12 cheetahs were brought to India from South Africa last month.

Congratulations 🇮🇳

A momentous event in our wildlife conservation history during Amrit Kaal!

I am delighted to share that four cubs have been born to one of the cheetahs translocated to India on 17th September 2022, under the visionary leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi her. pic.twitter.com/a1YXqi7kTt

— Bhupender Yadav (@byadavbjp) March 29, 2023

The four cubs were born at the Kuno National Park Wildlife Sanctuary. Announcing the news on Twitter, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said he was "thrilled".

"I congratulate the entire team of Project Cheetah for their relentless efforts to bring back cheetahs to India and for their efforts to right the ecological wrong done in the past," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also welcomed the "wonderful news". The cubs were believed to have been born five days ago, but they were spotted by officials on Wednesday, the Trust of India reported.

A representative of the park told the news agency that the mother and cubs are fine and healthy. When they were transported to India last year, it was the first time a large carnivore had been moved from one continent to another and then released back into the wild.