Express News Service
BHOPAL: Two male Cheetahs who were part of the eight cheetahs flown from Namibia to Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park (KNP) on PM Narendra Modi’s 72nd birthday in September 2022 were released into the open jungle of the same national park in Sheopur district on Wednesday.
The Cheetah coalition, wearing satellite collars, have joined two other Namibian Cheetahs, including a male, Oban, and a female named Asha, who were the first ones to be released into the wild on March 11.Confirming the development, Kuno Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Prakash Verma told this newspaper on Thursday, “The male coalition, Elton and Freddie, were released from the big enclosures into the open jungles successfully on Wednesday. They are being continuously monitored and are safe.”
“On March 11, the first ones to be released out of the big enclosures into the open jungle were Asha and Oban. They too are adapting well to the wild and returning to their fencing after freely moving in 5-7 kms daily. They are under our continuous watch,” he added.
Based on how well these four Namibian Cheetahs continue to adapt in the open jungle (which also has leopards as co-predators), the remaining four Cheetahs from the southwest African nation too will be released into KNP’s open jungles, following clearance from the Central government’s special task force on the Cheetah Project, sources at KNP said.
All the four Cheetahs now in the open jungle are aged between 4 and 5 years. Not only have four of the eight Namibian Cheetahs now been released into the open jungle at KNP, but the park located in Sheopur district of MP’s Gwalior-Chambal region, has also opened two of its gates (but not the main gate) for visitors, including Pohri-Ahira Gate and Agara-Pipalwadi Gate.
The remaining four Cheetahs from Namibia, awaiting their release from the big enclosures, include a female named Sasha, which reportedly has fully recovered from a kidney-liver infection. India’s seven decades long wait to see the return of the Cheetah – the fastest moving animal on earth – into the wild, had finally ended with the PM Narendra Modi releasing the first batch from Namibia, at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district on his 72nd Birthday on September 17, 2022.
The eight fully-vaccinated Namibian Cheetahs, included five females and three males. The eight Cheetahs, after their arrival at KNP in September 2022, had spent around two months in quarantine, before being released into enclosures to master the art of hunting.
Namibian male cheetah siblings Elton and Freddie, flown to India on PM Modi’s 72nd birthday last year, now released into the wild from their big enclosures at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in MP’s Sheopur district. @NewIndianXpress @TheMornStandard @santwana99 @Shahid_Faridi_ pic.twitter.com/I2ygmvTki7
— Anuraag Singh (@anuraag_niebpl) March 23, 2023
Five months after the arrival of first batch of Cheetahs from Namibia, the first-batch of 12 satellite collared Cheetahs from South Africa, including seven males and five females were released into the quarantine bomas by MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan on February 18, 2023, consequently making KNP the home to 20 African Cheetahs.
All the 12 South African Cheetahs are presently in mandatory quarantine in small enclosures on buffalo meat diet. The successful introduction of the 20 African Cheetahs at KNP under the world’s first inter-continental Cheetah translocation project, followed by the reintroduction of three tigers at the Madhav National Park in adjoining Shivpuri district of MP on March 10, 2023, has also raised the hope of development of a first-of-its-kind Tiger-Cheetah-Tiger corridor. If developed, the corridor will span from Ranthambore National Park inRajasthan’s Sawai Madhopur district to MP’s Madhav National Park .
BHOPAL: Two male Cheetahs who were part of the eight cheetahs flown from Namibia to Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park (KNP) on PM Narendra Modi’s 72nd birthday in September 2022 were released into the open jungle of the same national park in Sheopur district on Wednesday.
The Cheetah coalition, wearing satellite collars, have joined two other Namibian Cheetahs, including a male, Oban, and a female named Asha, who were the first ones to be released into the wild on March 11.
Confirming the development, Kuno Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Prakash Verma told this newspaper on Thursday, “The male coalition, Elton and Freddie, were released from the big enclosures into the open jungles successfully on Wednesday. They are being continuously monitored and are safe.”
“On March 11, the first ones to be released out of the big enclosures into the open jungle were Asha and Oban. They too are adapting well to the wild and returning to their fencing after freely moving in 5-7 kms daily. They are under our continuous watch,” he added.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
Based on how well these four Namibian Cheetahs continue to adapt in the open jungle (which also has leopards as co-predators), the remaining four Cheetahs from the southwest African nation too will be released into KNP’s open jungles, following clearance from the Central government’s special task force on the Cheetah Project, sources at KNP said.
All the four Cheetahs now in the open jungle are aged between 4 and 5 years. Not only have four of the eight Namibian Cheetahs now been released into the open jungle at KNP, but the park located in Sheopur district of MP’s Gwalior-Chambal region, has also opened two of its gates (but not the main gate) for visitors, including Pohri-Ahira Gate and Agara-Pipalwadi Gate.
The remaining four Cheetahs from Namibia, awaiting their release from the big enclosures, include a female named Sasha, which reportedly has fully recovered from a kidney-liver infection. India’s seven decades long wait to see the return of the Cheetah – the fastest moving animal on earth – into the wild, had finally ended with the PM Narendra Modi releasing the first batch from Namibia, at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district on his 72nd Birthday on September 17, 2022.
The eight fully-vaccinated Namibian Cheetahs, included five females and three males. The eight Cheetahs, after their arrival at KNP in September 2022, had spent around two months in quarantine, before being released into enclosures to master the art of hunting.
Namibian male cheetah siblings Elton and Freddie, flown to India on PM Modi’s 72nd birthday last year, now released into the wild from their big enclosures at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in MP’s Sheopur district. @NewIndianXpress @TheMornStandard @santwana99 @Shahid_Faridi_ pic.twitter.com/I2ygmvTki7
— Anuraag Singh (@anuraag_niebpl) March 23, 2023
Five months after the arrival of first batch of Cheetahs from Namibia, the first-batch of 12 satellite collared Cheetahs from South Africa, including seven males and five females were released into the quarantine bomas by MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan on February 18, 2023, consequently making KNP the home to 20 African Cheetahs.
All the 12 South African Cheetahs are presently in mandatory quarantine in small enclosures on buffalo meat diet. The successful introduction of the 20 African Cheetahs at KNP under the world’s first inter-continental Cheetah translocation project, followed by the reintroduction of three tigers at the Madhav National Park in adjoining Shivpuri district of MP on March 10, 2023, has also raised the hope of development of a first-of-its-kind Tiger-Cheetah-Tiger corridor. If developed, the corridor will span from Ranthambore National Park inRajasthan’s Sawai Madhopur district to MP’s Madhav National Park .
