12 more cheetahs to come from Africa to Kuno National Park this month

Mysuru: The 22nd meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) was held at Bandipur Tiger Reserve on Tuesday and was chaired by Union Minister of Forest, Environment and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav, who is also the NTCA Chairman.

The second batch of 12 cheetahs is likely to arrive in India from South Africa in January and discussions with South African authorities to translocate 12 cheetahs to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh are at an advanced stage and the animals are likely to arrive this month.

During the NTCA meeting, officials from Kuno National Park gave a presentation on the preparedness for the introduction of 12 more cheetahs, comprising seven males and five females.

In September 2022, cheetahs came back to India after 70 years, when PM Narendra Modi released the first batch of eight cheetahs from Namibia into a quarantine enclosure at the Park. The five female and three male cheetahs were reintroduced as part of the ‘Action Plan for Reintroduction of Cheetah in India’ prepared by the Wildlife Institute of India. The Action Plan aims at introducing around 12-14 wild cheetahs (8-10 males and 4-6 females) that would be imported from South Africa, Namibia and other African countries. The cheetahs will be imported to establish an ideal population of the mammal in India.

The other points discussed at the meeting pertained to the development of tiger corridors for tiger movement; tiger relocation from one State to the other, which will solve the problem of inbreeding and opening of new zones in a couple of Tiger Reserves.