On Saturday afternoon, an Indian Air Force (IAF) C-17 Globemaster plane carrying up to 12 cheetahs from South Africa arrived at Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior airport, months after eight cheetahs were transported from Namibia.
After landing at Gwalior Air Base, the cheetahs were driven to Kuno National Park, which is about 200 kilometers away, by South African cheetah experts. Following that, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav would release the cheetahs into quarantine bomas. On this occasion, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan joined the Union Minister.
According to official information, the 12 cheetahs — seven males and five females — will be relocated to Kuno National Park in Sheopur district.
According to officials, up to ten quarantine enclosures for big cats have been built at the reserve. According to Indian wildlife laws, the animals must be kept in isolation for 30 days after they arrive in the country.
Eight cheetahs from Namibia will be flown into India in September 2022. On his birthday, September 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the big cats into Kuno National Park.
The eight Namibian cheetahs are now housed in a hunting enclosure (a six-square-kilometer area where they can interact with one another) and will be released into the wild soon.
The Centre proposed the relocation of 12 cheetahs from South Africa three years ago — the world’s first intercontinental translocation project aimed at reintroducing the big cats to the country.
In India, the last cheetah died in 1947, and the species was declared extinct in 1952.
Source:SE