Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his joy over the release of two cheetahs in the bigger enclosure of Kuno National Park. They were reintroduced in India in the Park in September , after completing their mandatory qurantine. They are reportedly healthy and adjusting well.
The PM said that the other cheetahs will be released soon. “Great news! Am told that after the mandatory quarantine, 2 cheetahs have been released to a bigger enclosure for further adaptation to the Kuno habitat. Others will be released soon. I’m also glad to know that all cheetahs are healthy, active and adjusting well,”PM Modi tweeted while sharing the video of the Cheetahs.
The cheetahs were intoduced in India by PM Modi on his birthday, September 17 this year. Following the Ministry of Animal Husbandry’s approval of the quarantine clearance for eight cheetahs to be released in a large enclosure, the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change released the two cheetahs.
Two male cheetahs were released on Saturday at the Kuno National Park’s acclimatisation enclosure in the Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh after receiving permission from the relevant government, an official said.
Prakash Kumar Verma, Divisional Forest Officer of Kuno Wildlife Circle said, “After the completion of the quarantine period of the cheetahs brought from Namibia, two male cheetahs have been released in a big enclosure. The rest of the cheetahs will also be released in a phase-wise manner soon”.
“This is already a big success that no Animal died in intercontinental translocation and not only this, all the Cheetahs that came to India are safe, normal and till date did not face any kind of problems here despite the very long distance journey due to our excellent preparations for them,” said a senior official.
All of the cheetahs have radio collars that are tracked through satellite. In addition to this, each cheetah has a dedicated monitoring staff that stays on the scene all day.
The reintroduction of wild wildlife, particularly cheetahs, is being carried out under the ambitious Project Cheetah initiative of the Indian government in accordance with IUCN recommendations.