Eight cheetahs are all set to fly all the way from South Africa’s Namibia on September 17 and make a new home in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno-Palpur National Park in a first-of-its-kind project.
Union minister of environment and forest Bhupendra Yadav said among the eight big cats, five are females and three males. They will be flown from Windhoek to Jaipur, and from there they will be flown to Palpur. Two helipads have been constructed for their landing, he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release the cheetahs, known to be the world’s fastest land animals, in a specially built 6,000-sq feet enclosure, on the same day. The cheetahs will be staying in the enclosures for a month.
Yadav said two more helipads have been set up inside the national park for receiving Modi and other dignitaries.
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He added that India will soon be signing an MoU with South Africa for the procurement of 12 cheetahs.
{{/usCountry}}He added that India will soon be signing an MoU with South Africa for the procurement of 12 cheetahs.
{{/usCountry}}Senior officials said earlier, India had rejected three cheetahs, but Namibia had refused to replace them. Now, all the eight are being brought to India.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister said the day would be a ‘historic’ one for the state. “Cheetahs which had gone extinct not just from India but from the Asian continent are being reintroduced in presence of Modi,” he told news agency ANI. The CM also visited the national park to take stock of the preparations.
The CM said 24 surrounding villages will be developed as revenue villages and a skill development centre will be started in Kuno to provide employment and promote tourism.
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Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said it is “not an easy project to reintroduce cheetahs in another country”.
“The shifting of cheetahs, tigers, or lions is not an easy task as very few such projects have been successful in the world. The climate at Kuno-Palpur sanctuary is perfect for the cheetahs,” he said.
Cheetahs went extinct in India 70 years ago in 1952. Since 2009, the ‘African Cheetah Introduction Project in India’ has been underway.
(With inputs from bureau)