Cheetahs from Botswana released at Kuno National Park

Sheopur:Union Minister for Environment and Forest, Bhupender Yadav, on Saturday released nine cheetahs into Kuno National Park in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh.

This fresh batch of nine cheetahs - six males and three females - were brought from Botswana in an Indian Air Force (IAF) plane to Gwalior airport after a more than 10-hour-long journey and then transported to Sheopur in two helicopters. Earlier, it was stated that eight cheetahs would be brought from Botswana, however, a total of nine cheetahs have arrived and they were released at the Kuno National Park. All these nine cheetahs have been kept in quarantine enclosures for now.

The arrival of nine new big cats as part of the Centre’s ambitious cheetah reintroduction programme, takes the total number of this species in the country to 48, including 28 cubs born at the park since the first batch of cheetahs was released here on September 17, 2022.

Officials told IANS that multiple quarantine enclosures have been prepared at the park to ensure stress-free transfer of the animals. Under the protocol, the cheetahs will remain in large, fenced enclosures for about a month.