Eight more cheetahs are being brought to India from South Africa, Botswana and Kenya, including four coming this May, according to officials.
A release from the Madhya Pradesh government said this information was given by officials of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), who took part in a review meeting of the cheetah project in Bhopal on Friday in the presence of Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav and MP Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, PTI reported.
"Efforts are underway to bring more cheetahs from South Africa, Botswana, and Kenya to India. Eight cheetahs will be brought to India in two phases. There is a plan to bring four cheetahs from Botswana to India by May. After this, four more cheetahs will be brought. At present, consent is being developed on an agreement between India and Kenya," the release quoted NTCA officials as saying.
"Under Project Cheetah, cheetahs will now be relocated in a phased manner in Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary. The sanctuary is adjacent to the border of Rajasthan, so an in-principle agreement has been reached between Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to establish an inter-state cheetah conservation area," the release said.
Special training is being given to "cheetah mitras" in Kuno National Park and Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary to enhance their capacity, it added.
In the meeting, NTCA officials also informed that more than Rs 112 crore has been spent on the cheetah project in the country so far, of which 67 per cent has gone into cheetah rehabilitation in Madhya Pradesh, the release stated, PTI reported.
Currently, there are 26 cheetahs at Kuno National Park, including 16 in the open forest and 10 in the rehabilitation centre (enclosures).
Female cheetahs Jwala, Asha, Gamini, and Veera have given birth to cubs, forest officials said, adding that the number of tourists in KNP has doubled in two years.
Eight Namibian cheetahs, comprising five females and three males, were released in KNP on September 17, 2022, marking the first-ever intercontinental translocation of the big cats. In February 2023, 12 more cheetahs were translocated from South Africa to KNP.
(With inputs from PTI)
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