At 10 a.m. Saturday, an Indian Air Force (IAF) plane carrying 12 cheetahs arrived in Madhya Pradesh from South Africa. The cheetahs were flown to Gwalior this morning and will be transported to the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district around 12 p.m.
Union Minister Bhupender Yadav and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will release the cheetahs in KNP.
The second group of cats reintroduced in India is made up of seven males and five females. Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the first set of eight from Namibia on September 17, last year.
After being released, the cheetahs will be placed in quarantine bomas (enclosures) for half an hour (around 12.30 p.m.), according to an expert.
KNP director Uttam Sharma said they have arranged 10 quarantine bomas for South African cheetahs. Two pairs of cheetahs would be kept in two of these facilities, he said, adding, “We have completed our preparations to receive the big cats.”.
India’s last cheetah died in Koriya district of present-day Chhattisgarh in 1947 and the species was declared extinct in 1952. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between India and South Africa last year for the translocation of the mammals which is part of the Indian government’s ambitious cheetah reintroduction programme.