Madhya Pradesh all set to welcome African cheetahs
PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi is scheduled to release eight cheetahs brought from Namibia in the Kuno National Park in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, on his birthday on Saturday (17).
The cheetahs will be brought in a cargo flight from Namibia to Jaipur in Rajasthan and a helicopter will then carry them to Kuno-Palpur, principal chief conservator of forest JS Chauhan said. The animals will be released into quarantine enclosures on the same day as part of the cheetah reintroduction programme, a source said. A resettlement programme to move villagers away from the protected area is scheduled to be completed before the animals arrive.
“Twenty-four of the 25 villages have been completely resettled over the last 10-15 years. They have been brought into the mainstream,” said an official.
It is said that during the reign of Mughal emperor Akbar (15561605), there were 1,000 cheetahs. The animals were used for hunting blackbucks and gazelles.
The last cheetah died India in 1947 in Korea district in present day Chhattisgarh, which was earlier part of Madhya Pradesh, and the species was declared extinct from India in 1952. The ‘African Cheetah Introduction Project in India’ was conceived in 2009.
The Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh was considered ready to receive the cheetahs as this area had attracted investment for the reintroduction of Asiatic lions, which is also an endangered species.
Experts say the word “cheetah” originates from the Sanskrit word “chitraka”, meaning “the spotted one”.
In Bhopal and Gandhinagar, cave paintings dating back to the Neolithic age depict the cheetah.
India signed a pact with Namibia in July for the re-introduction of cheetahs. Eight cheetahs – five females and three males – will depart from Namibia capital Windhoek on September 16 and reach Jaipur airport the next morning. Namibia and South Africa are home to more than a third of the world’s 7,000 cheetahs.