Gwalior, Feb 28 : A special Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft carrying eight cheetahs from Botswana arrived at Gwalior airport on Saturday morning. After a formal inspection of the cheetahs which had travelled for over 10 hours, the officials concerned moved the cages carrying the cheetahs into two helicopters. From Gwalior’s airport, these cheetahs were flown to Kuno National Park, located in Sheopur district of the Gwalior-Chambal region in Madhya Pradesh. Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav will release them at Kuno National Park.
The animals will be released into quarantine enclosures at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, where officials will closely monitor their health and behaviour before gradually preparing them for life in the wild. A team of forest veterinarians and wildlife experts has also arrived from Botswana, who will be assisting the forest officials responsible for the success of ‘Project Cheetah’ at Kuno National Park, according to a senior forest official in Madhya Pradesh. With the arrival of eight new cheetahs, which is part of the Centre’s ambitious cheetah reintroduction programme, the total number of the big cats in the country went up to 47, including 28 cubs born at the park since the first batch of cheetahs were 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. This is the third batch of African cheetahs brought to India under the translocation programme, following earlier introductions from Namibia in September 2022 and South Africa in February 2023.