BHOPAL: Over two and half years after Kuno National Park (KNP) in ‘tiger state’ Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district became the first home to African cheetahs in the country, the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary (GSWS) in Mandsaur district is set to become their second home.Two adult cheetahs from KNP, possibly a South African male coalition – Prabhas and Pavak – will be relocated to the GSWS on April 20.The official announcement in this regard was made at a meeting in Bhopal on Friday to review the implementation of the Cheetah Project in MP. The meeting was attended, among others, by Union forest minister Bhupender Yadav and MP Chief Minister Mohan Yadav.Since last summer, the GSWS has been preparing the necessary infrastructure for the animals’ habitat. It has built three big enclosures for them in a 64 sqkm area. “The first two arrivals, the South African male coalition from KNP, will be kept together in one big enclosure,” an official at the sanctuary told this newspaper. As per National Tiger Conservation Authority, over `112 crore has been spent on the cheetah project, with 67% invested in MP.While the male coalition will be shifted from KNP to GSWS (a distance of 300-odd km. separates them) on Sunday, more cheetahs will be translocated there in phases.Additional cheetahs are expected from South Africa, Botswana, and Kenya. Four will likely be flown in from Botswana by May, and another four later. Negotiations with Kenya are also underway to translocate cheetahs to India.
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