Sheopur: Two male cheetahs brought from Namibia to the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh have made their first kill within 24 hours of their release from a quarantine area to a larger acclimatization enclosure, an official said on Monday.
The cheetahs hunted down a cheetal (spotted deer) either on Sunday night or in the wee hours of Monday, Chief Conservator of Forest Uttam Kumar Sharma told PTI. The forest monitoring team got this information on Monday morning, he said. This was the first prey of the felines after their translocation from Namibia to India in mid-September along with six other cheetahs, the official said.
The cheetahs – Freddie and Alton – were the first pair to be released into the larger enclosure on Saturday after being quarantined since September 17. The successful first hunt by the cheetahs within 24 hours of moving to the larger enclosure has also allayed the park management’s concerns about their prey hunting ability.
“The cheetahs eat their prey within two hours of hunting,” Sharma said. He said the two cheetahs were released in the larger enclosure spread over 98 hectares from a quarantine zone on Saturday. The other six cheetahs will also be released (in the acclimatisation enclosure) in a phased manner, he said.
