Guwahati: National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) released the first group of cheetahs that would be airlifted from Namibia to Kuno National Park in Sheopur, Madhya Pradesh on Monday.
At Kuno National Park in Sheopur Madhya Pradesh, we are receiving eight cheetahs five of which are female and three of which are male, according to NTCA Member Secretary S P Yadav.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil the cheetah reintroduction project at MP’s Kuno National Park on September 17.
Yadav added, “this is a big and historic time and there is no other example like this in the entire world where it is being released and brought from one continent to another continent and all the international standards are being followed for this.”
“As of now, our plan is to have bring the cheetahs in the morning of September 17 and for this we hired a chartered cargo plane. The cheetahs will come to Jaipur from Windhoek, Namibia’s capital and then by helicopter will come to Palpur Kuno National Park and then there will be a programme to release them, the helipad has also been built,” he further said.
You know that the Maharaja of Korea hunted the last three cheetahs in Chhattisgarh in 1947–48, and the final cheetah was spotted at the same time in 1952, when the Government of India declared the cheetah extinct. Since then, we are rehabilitating cheetahs after over 75 years.
“Cheetahs will be brought in quarantine for the first 30 days, quarantine arrangements are made, their health and other parameters will be monitored and after that when it is found that they are completely healthy after testing them, they will be put in large enclosures” Yadav added.
Yadav went on to say that “Eight of the nine compartments in the 6-square-kilometer enclosure are for the cheetah, which will be kept in the main enclosure once its quarantine is over.
Cheetah will be closely observed to determine whether he has adapted to the country’s climate and whether he is comfortable or not.”
The Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972’s section 38 L (1) established the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
After being declared extinct in 1952, the large cat species will be reintroduced to India.