It was a historic moment on Saturday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi released eight Cheetahs brought from Namibia in the Kuno National Park of Madhya Pradesh. This is after 70 years that the country is again registering the presence of big cats that went extinct in 1952.
The initiative has been taken under the Project Cheetah, which, the government has stressed, is the world's first inter-continental large wild carnivore translocation project. With an eye on helping to restore open forest and grassland ecosystems in India, the project aims to "help conserve biodiversity and enhance the ecosystem services like water security, carbon sequestration and soil moisture conservation, benefiting society at large," an official statement read.
In a video that captured the moment when the big cats - five female and three male - were released in the wild, PM Modi could also be seen clicking photographs himself. By his side, stood Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The Cheetahs were seen familiarising themselves with the new environment.
India is home to 52 Tiger Reserves covering approximately 75,000 Sq Km area in 18 States with approximately 75% population of the wild tiger at global level, a PM's office statement highlighted, adding that the country has 12,852 leopards as compared to the previous estimate of 7,910 conducted in 2014. More than 60 per cent increase in population has been recorded.
{{/usCountry}}India is home to 52 Tiger Reserves covering approximately 75,000 Sq Km area in 18 States with approximately 75% population of the wild tiger at global level, a PM's office statement highlighted, adding that the country has 12,852 leopards as compared to the previous estimate of 7,910 conducted in 2014. More than 60 per cent increase in population has been recorded.
{{/usCountry}}"These Cheetahs will help in restoring the grassland ecosystem and biodiversity will increase in the Kuno National Park. Eco-tourism and the possibility of development here will also increase in the coming days," PM Modi said after the launch of Project Cheetah.
"Today, 21st century India is giving a message to the whole world that economy and ecology are not conflicting fields. India has shown to the world that protecting the environment and the progress of the country can go hand in hand," he added.