The Cheetahs Are Here! PM Modi Releases Eight Big Cats From Namibia To Kuno National Park
One of the most ambitious wildlife conservation projects anywhere in the world is now officially underway in India as Cheetahs have been reintroduced into the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday released the eight cheetahs brought from Namibia into KNP.
PM Modi released two cheetahs from enclosure number one and after that about 70 meters away, from the second enclosure released another cheetah.
He also clicked some pictures of the cheetahs after releasing them.
Don't rush to see cheetahs: PM
Later during his address, Prime Minister Modi acknowledged that the cheetahs will boost tourism in KNP, but urged people to wait for a few more months.
"People will have to show patience and wait for a few months to see these cheetahs in Kuno National Park. These cheetahs have come as guests, unaware of this area. For them to be able to make Kuno National Park their home, we'll have to give these cheetahs a few months' time," PM Modi said.
Cheetahs flown on special flight?
The eight cheetahs were brought in a special flight of Terra Avia, an airline based at Chisinau, Moldova (in Europe) that operates chartered passenger and cargo flights, to Gwalior as part of an inter-continental cheetah translocation project.?
Later, the Indian Air Force choppers carried the cheetahs to Kuno National Park from Gwalior Air Force Station.
India will soon have 25 cheetahs
Under the ambitious Project Cheetah of the Indian government, the reintroduction of wild species particularly cheetah was undertaken as per the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines.
A total of 25 cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa will be reintroduced to KNP, which was once the historic range of the big cats before they became extinct some 70 years ago.
The last know Asian cheetah in India died in the country in 1947 in Korea district in present-day Chhattisgarh, which was earlier part of Madhya Pradesh, and the species was declared extinct in 1952.
Why Kuno?
The KNP is situated on the Northern side of Vidhyachal mountains with an area of 344.686 sq km. It was named after a tributary of Chambal River, Kuno.
It is believed that KNP which has a good forest and grassland cover will be the ideal home for the African cheetahs.
Taking no chances with their?safety
Though they have been released into KNP, the movement of the eight cheetahs will be confined to an enclosure that is spread across over 10km for acclimatisation.
Radio collars have been installed in all the cheetahs to be monitored through satellite. Apart from this, there is a dedicated monitoring team behind each cheetah who will be tracking their location for 24 hours.
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