7th cheetah released into wild in MP’s Kuno

“Neerva, a three-and-a-half-year old female cheetah from South Africa, was released into the wild from a larger enclosure at the KNP late on Sunday,” said KNP field director Uttam Kumar Sharma.

One more cheetah has been successfully released into the wild at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park (KNP), nearly eight months after she was brought to India, an official said. She was kept in “hunting enclosures” at the park.

Three of the 20 adult cheetahs translocated from South Africa and Namibia have died at the KNP (PTI)

“Neerva, a three-and-a-half-year old female cheetah from South Africa, was released into the wild from a larger enclosure at the KNP late on Sunday,” said KNP field director Uttam Kumar Sharma.

On September 17 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the first batch of eight cheetahs from Namibia into a quarantine enclosure at KNP, as part of an effort to revive the species’ population in India. Later, 12 cheetahs were brought to the national park from South Africa on February 18 this year. So far, seven cheetahs have been released into the wild, while 10 are still housed in larger enclosures.

Cheetah Jwala, who was translocated from Namibia, gave birth to four cubs at the KNP in March this year. Three of the cubs died earlier this month.

Besides these cubs, three of the 20 adult cheetahs translocated from South Africa and Namibia have died at the KNP. Experts, however, have maintained that “the survival rate of cheetah cubs is very poor in Africa”.