By AFP
India began releasing eight Namibian cheetahs into the wild on Saturday, TV images showed, in an ambitious project to reintroduce the big cats after they were driven to extinction there decades ago.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over the release of the spotted creatures at the Kuno National Park, a sanctuary south of the capital New Delhi, footage from public broadcaster Doordarshan showed.
The plane carrying the felines from Namibia landed at the Gwalior airbase shortly before 8 am, an official said.
A modified Boeing aircraft, which took off from the African country Friday night, carried the cheetahs in special wooden crates during the around 10-hour journey.
The animals were later taken to Palpur near the KNP in Sheopur district, 165 km from Gwalior, in two helicopters.
During their journey from Namibia to Gwalior, the cheetahs remained without food and will be given something to eat once they are released in the enclosures, an official said.
After that, other dignitaries will release the remaining cheetahs in other enclosures, he said.
The 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.
The Park is situated on the northern side of the Vidhyachal mountains and is spread across 344 sq km.
Officials battled heavy rain, inclement weather and some blocked roads to complete the preparations for Modi’s programme to release the big cats in their new home in Kuno.
Two days before Modi’s arrival, heavy rain lashed the Gwalior-Chambal region of Madhya Pradesh.
(With PTI Inputs)
India began releasing eight Namibian cheetahs into the wild on Saturday, TV images showed, in an ambitious project to reintroduce the big cats after they were driven to extinction there decades ago.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over the release of the spotted creatures at the Kuno National Park, a sanctuary south of the capital New Delhi, footage from public broadcaster Doordarshan showed.
The plane carrying the felines from Namibia landed at the Gwalior airbase shortly before 8 am, an official said.
A modified Boeing aircraft, which took off from the African country Friday night, carried the cheetahs in special wooden crates during the around 10-hour journey.
The animals were later taken to Palpur near the KNP in Sheopur district, 165 km from Gwalior, in two helicopters.
During their journey from Namibia to Gwalior, the cheetahs remained without food and will be given something to eat once they are released in the enclosures, an official said.
After that, other dignitaries will release the remaining cheetahs in other enclosures, he said.
The 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.
The Park is situated on the northern side of the Vidhyachal mountains and is spread across 344 sq km.
Officials battled heavy rain, inclement weather and some blocked roads to complete the preparations for Modi’s programme to release the big cats in their new home in Kuno.
Two days before Modi’s arrival, heavy rain lashed the Gwalior-Chambal region of Madhya Pradesh.
(With PTI Inputs)
