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U.P. seeks radio collar details of 2 cheetahs who strayed out of Kuno
Cheetahs, who were said to be moving towards Uttar Pradesh’s Lalitpur, were reportedly returning to the terrains of Madhya Pradesh
Even as two cheetahs from the Kuno National Park (KNP), who were said to be moving towards Uttar Pradesh’s Lalitpur, were reportedly returning to the terrains of Madhya Pradesh, U.P’s forest officials have asked the neighbour state to share inputs from the radio collars attached to the two animals.
“Our staff have been asked to stay alert. Though the latest input stated the cheetahs are reverting, the alert status will remain in place until it is certain that the two large cats are returning to MP,” said Mamata Sanjeev Dubey, the chief of the forest force who’s also heading the U.P. forest department.
As the news of the cheetahs moving towards U.P. broke, a virtual meeting of forest officials from several states was held. The U.P officials reportedly sought the GPS and radio collar inputs to track the animals’ inputs. For now, however, the department has been directed to only track and monitor the cheetahs if they cross into the U.P side. Any further decision regarding the matter will be taken by the Cheetah Project Steering Committee.
Officials also said U.P. doesn’t have a cheetah-friendly terrain as the animal needs large grassland to prey and the place they’re heading to has a forest.
“Feral dogs also pose a threat to the cheetahs,” a senior forest official said.
Cheetah reintroduction in India is an attempt to introduce a small population of Southeast African cheetahs in India more than 70 years after the native subspecies became extinct here.
It may be noted that this was the second time when cheetahs strayed out of KNP. Earlier, a male cheetah, named Oban/Pawan, was tranquilised and brought back to the park when it was about to cross over to a forest in Uttar Pradesh.
