Guwahati: Twelve cheetahs from South Africa are scheduled to arrive in India on Saturday in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno Park after waiting for several months. Eight of these spotted cats from Namibia were acquired earlier in 2022.
These large cats—seven males and five females—will board an Indian Air Force (IAF) cargo plane at OR Tambo International Airport in Gauteng, South Africa, on Friday evening and fly thousands of kilometres to their new home.
The South African Cheetahs, according to the project participant and expert, will initially arrive at Gwalior Air Force Base in MP on Saturday morning before being flown by IAF helicopters 165 kilometres to KNP in the Sheopur area.
According to the experts, they would be placed in quarantine bomas (enclosures) after 30 minutes (12.30 pm) after arriving in KNP at around 12 p.m.
Ten quarantine bomas for South African cheetahs have been set up, according to KNP Director Uttam Sharma. Two of these facilities would house two sets of cheetah brothers.
“We have completed our preparations to receive the big cats on Saturday,” he further added.
According to experts, a delegation from South Africa visited KNP earlier in September 2022 to observe the wildlife sanctuary’s arrangements for keeping the fastest land animals in the world.
India and South Africa last month signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the translocation of the mammals. These large cats were given to India by South Africa. Prior to transfer, India must first pay the African country USD 3,000 for each cheetah it captures.