Express News Service
BHOPAL: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to celebrate his 72nd birthday on September 17 amid some prized visitors to the country. He will be in the jungles of Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh, inaugurating perhaps the world’s first inter-continental cheetah translocation project. The fastest animal on the earth, which became extinct in India seven decades ago, will be reintroduced to the country by Sept 16, when eight cheetahs arrive from Namibia.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced the development in Bhopal on Tuesday. “It’s matter of joy for all of us that the PM will be in MP on his birthday. And to add further to that joy, he will be inaugurating the reintroduction of cheetahs from Africa project at the Kuno National Park in Sheopur district,” Chouhan said.
As per sources, seven helipads are being prepared in and around the KNP, which is spread in a 750 sq km area, to ensure hassle-free landing of the cheetahs as well as work for Modi’s arrival. Also, all hotels and restaurants around the national park have been booked by the government during Sept. 14-20.
As per forest department sources, 8-12 cheetahs, including four-five females, have been vaccinated and quarantined for a month in Namibia as part of preparations to airlift them to India. Eight of them will be brought in the first lot. Once at Kuno, they will be kept in a 500-hectare enclosure for two-three months before being freed into the wild.
A team of experts from South Africa and the Wildlife Institute of India have also apparently arrived at Kuno for working on the translocation of cheetahs from South Africa in the next few months.The animal became extinct in India in 1952 due to extensive hunting.
Though the Cheetah Reintroduction Project in India was conceived in 2009, it had to wait for the Supreme Court’s clearance to the National Tiger Conservation Authority’s plea. In January 2020, the apex court gave its nod for reintroducing the extinct species in India. Nine months later, KNP was selected as the most ideal site, out of six shortlisted sites. However, the process was delayed due to the outbreak of the pandemic.
BHOPAL: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to celebrate his 72nd birthday on September 17 amid some prized visitors to the country. He will be in the jungles of Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh, inaugurating perhaps the world’s first inter-continental cheetah translocation project. The fastest animal on the earth, which became extinct in India seven decades ago, will be reintroduced to the country by Sept 16, when eight cheetahs arrive from Namibia.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced the development in Bhopal on Tuesday. “It’s matter of joy for all of us that the PM will be in MP on his birthday. And to add further to that joy, he will be inaugurating the reintroduction of cheetahs from Africa project at the Kuno National Park in Sheopur district,” Chouhan said.
As per sources, seven helipads are being prepared in and around the KNP, which is spread in a 750 sq km area, to ensure hassle-free landing of the cheetahs as well as work for Modi’s arrival. Also, all hotels and restaurants around the national park have been booked by the government during Sept. 14-20.
As per forest department sources, 8-12 cheetahs, including four-five females, have been vaccinated and quarantined for a month in Namibia as part of preparations to airlift them to India. Eight of them will be brought in the first lot. Once at Kuno, they will be kept in a 500-hectare enclosure for two-three months before being freed into the wild.
A team of experts from South Africa and the Wildlife Institute of India have also apparently arrived at Kuno for working on the translocation of cheetahs from South Africa in the next few months.
The animal became extinct in India in 1952 due to extensive hunting.
Though the Cheetah Reintroduction Project in India was conceived in 2009, it had to wait for the Supreme Court’s clearance to the National Tiger Conservation Authority’s plea. In January 2020, the apex court gave its nod for reintroducing the extinct species in India. Nine months later, KNP was selected as the most ideal site, out of six shortlisted sites. However, the process was delayed due to the outbreak of the pandemic.
