Madhya Pradesh: Cheetahs Released in Kuno NP After a Year in Enclosures

�Bhopal:�Nearly fifteen months after the cheetahs in the Kuno National Park (NP) in Sheopur district in Madhya Pradesh were moved to the large enclosures in the wildlife sanctuary for regular health checkups, two of them were on Wednesday released in the wild.

The development coincided with the International Cheetah Day.

“Today, on the occasion of International Cheetah Day, two male cheetahs, Agni and Vayu, have been released in the Parond forest area of Kuno National Park successfully.

Both cheetahs are healthy”, field director of Kuno NP Uttam Kumar Sharma told this newspaper.

The forest area where the two adult cheetahs were released is part of Ahera tourism zone falling under Kuno NP.

“Now due to the presence of cheetahs in the tourism zone, tourists may get the opportunity to see cheetah during the safari visit”, Mr Sharma said.

“The remaining 22 cheetahs which have been kept in the large enclosures in Kuno NP will be released in the wild in phases”, a member of the steering committee which is currently camping in the park to oversee the process told this newspaper, unwilling to be quoted.

The cheetahs will be released in the wild in phases after their health checkups to ensure that they are physically fit for a wild life, he added.

The cheetahs were moved to the large enclosures in August last year for regular health checkups following the death of three cheetahs due to septicemia caused by maggot infestation.

Later, one cheetah, Pawan, was released in the wild.

But the male cheetah died of suspected drowning a month ago in a flooded nullah in the Kuno NP.

Eight cheetahs were brought to the Kuno NP from Namibia in the first ever intercontinental translocation of carnivores in September, 2022 under the cheetah introduction project.

Six months later, 12 more cheetahs were trans-located to Kuno NP from South Africa under the same project.

Some cheetahs perished while some cubs took birth in Kuno NP in the last couple of years.

Meanwhile, on the occasion of International Cheetah Day, several rallies of ‘cheetah-mitras’ were organized by the Kuno NP in various parts of Sheopur district.

Cheetah mitras are volunteers engaged by the forest department to generate awareness among the villages in the surrounding areas on the need to protect the big cats.