India
There are now six cheetahs in the wild after the release of two males and one female at MP Kuno National Park
Kuno National Park (KNP) in the Sheopur region of Madhya Pradesh is the site of the release of three cheetahs: a male named Agni, a male named Vayu, and a female named Gamini. Three Cheetahs were shipped from South Africa to India.
There are currently 6 wild Cheetahs in Kuno National Park. An official said, “Now, there are still eleven translocated cats and four cubs in the enclosures.” Among the eight felines brought to the KNP in September of last year, three female Namibian cheetahs and one male are still confined to enclosures.
He continued, “In the next couple of days, we plan to release one of the female Namibian cheetahs into the free range. Another Namibian female Cheetah was unable to be released because she was pregnant. The third female cheetah does not meet the criteria for release into the wild.”
On September 17 of last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took eight Namibian cheetahs to the KNP and released them into dedicated enclosures as part of an ambitious reintroduction plan of the species.
On February 18 of this year, rangers from South Africa delivered a total of 12 cheetahs to the KNP, including 7 males and 5 females. Three cheetahs named Sasha, Uday, and Daksha, out of a total of 20, were found dead in their enclosures.
He further mentioned that the male Namibian cheetah Oban, who was recovered last month after wandering out of the conservation area and heading towards Jhansi, is also housed in an enclosure.
The good news is that in March of this year, at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, a cheetah named Siyaya gave birth to four cubs.
Recently a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sanjay Karol said that Kuno is “not sufficient to accommodate (the cheetahs)”. Stating that there is “too much concentration of cheetahs at one place”, the court asked the government to “look for an alternative, either in Madhya Pradesh or Rajasthan”.
