Project Cheetah: Kuno National Park welcomes second batch of cheetahs from South Africa
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Minister for Environment and Forests Bhupender Yadav released the second batch of 12 cheetahs brought from South Africa, to their new home Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh on February 18.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Minister for Environment and Forests Bhupender Yadav released the second batch of 12 cheetahs brought from South Africa, to their new home in Kuno National Park (KNP), Madhya Pradesh on February 18. (Image: Twitter @byadavbjp)
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The cheetahs have been released into the quarantine enclosure at the KNP in the Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh. These cheetahs – seven males and five females – comprise the second set of big cats coming to the state, with the first group of eight from Namibia having been released into the KNP on September 17 last year at a ceremonial function by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With the addition of these 12 members, the count of cheetahs at the KNP has gone up to 20. (Image: Twitter @byadavbjp)
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The big cats made their journey to their new home thousands of miles away aboard on an India Air Forces (IAF) C-17 Globemaster cargo plane. The IAF plane carrying them in wooden boxes from South Africa had arrived at Gwalior airport on February 18 at around 10 a.m. From there, they were flown to the KNP in IAF helicopters. (Image: Twitter @byadavbjp)
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The intercontinental translocation of these fastest land animals – first from Namibia and now from South Africa – is part of the Indian government’s ambitious cheetah reintroduction programme. (Image: Twitter @byadavbjp)
