MP will auction filming right on reintroduction of cheetahs
In a first-of-its-kind move in the country, the Madhya Pradesh government is mulling to auction the right to film the translocation of eight cheetahs from South Africa to Kuno National Park in the state, scheduled to be undertaken by end of the year.
The MP forest department is working in coordination with National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to bring five male and three female cheetahs from South Africa for reintroduction in Kuno National Park, earlier developed as a habitat for Asiatic lions.
Sources said the MP government has mooted an innovative idea to auction rights to film the whole conservation programme of the eight cheetahs from their translocation to their release in the wild in Kuno National Park, a 750 sq km-pristine forest in the state.
A base price of auctioning had been kept at `42 lakh, sources added.
The state government has already floated a global tender inviting the bidders.
However, the auction has been put on hold for some technical reasons, a senior forest office disclosed to this newspaper here on Friday requesting not to be quoted.
“We are going to float a fresh global tender shortly,” he said.
The proposed cheetah introduction project is being keenly watched by the conservationists since the wild animal has been declared extinct in Indian in 1952.
Sources said the project was yet to receive a no objection certificate (NOC) from Conservation on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an international conservation body, to take off.
◗ THE PROPOSED cheetah introduction project is being keenly watched by the conservationists since the wild animal has been declared extinct in Indian in 1952