New Delhi: As many as 12 more cheetahs from Africa will arrive in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park (KNP) on Saturday.
The second batch of cheetahs are coming five months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off the world’s first inter-continental cheetah translocation project on September 17 last year by releasing eight cheetahs brought from Namibia to the Kuno National Park.
As per reports, an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft C17, also known as ‘Globe Master’, has taken off from Hindon airport at 6 am this morning and is expected to land at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo airport on Thursday evening and then take off with the 12 cheetahs on Friday evening.
The selected cheetahs are coming from Phinda Game Reserve in Kwazulu Natal (2 male, 1 female) and Rooiberg Game Reserve in Limpopo Province (5 male, 4 female).
“They have been in quarantine and they are now ready for transportation. Several cheetah experts and veterinary doctors from South Africa are also coming with them. On February 20 we will also have a conference meeting in Kuno with the international cheetah experts including representatives from the Cheetah Conservation Fund. This will show us the way forward and help us assess on whether we are on the right track,” said SP Yadav, director general (wildlife).
The government launched the ambitious “Project Cheetah” with the goal of reintroducing the species to its former habitat in India, 71 years after the last recorded cheetah was hunted down in Chhattisgarh in 1952.
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