Two cheetahs shifted in big enclosure at MP

Two cheetahs among the eight cheetahs brought from Namibia, shifted to a larger enclosure of Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district on Saturday, an official said.

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Kuno Wildlife Circle Prakash Kumar Verma told, "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".

The cheetahs are shifted in a different enclosure where the leopards are not being traced, Verma added.

The eight cheetahs brought from Namibia were released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Kuno National Park on the occasion of his birthday on September 17.

Initially, the cheetahs were kept in a separate small enclosure. Now, two of them have been shifted into the big enclosure and they will hunt themselves.

On the occasion of his birthday, PM Modi reintroduced cheetahs brought from Namibia in Kuno National Park as part of his efforts to revitalize and diversify the country's wildlife and habitat.

Cheetahs are said to be the fastest animal. It runs at a speed of 100-120 km per hour.

The habitat that has been selected in Kuno is very beautiful and ideal, where there is a large tract of grasslands, small hills, and forests and it is very much suitable for cheetahs. Heavy security arrangements in Kuno National park to prevent poaching activities have been made.

Radio collars have been installed in all the cheetahs and monitored through satellite. Apart from this, there is a dedicated monitoring team behind each cheetah that keeps monitoring the location for 24 hours.

Under the ambitious project of the Indian government-Project Cheetah- the reintroduction of wild species particularly cheetahs are being undertaken as per the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines.

India has a long history of wildlife conservation. One of the most successful wildlife conservation ventures 'Project Tiger' which was initiated way back in 1972, has not only contributed to the conservation of tigers but also to the entire ecosystem.

In 1947-48, the last three cheetahs were hunted by the Maharaja of Korea in Chhattisgarh and the last cheetah was seen at the same time. In 1952 the Government of India declared Cheetahs as extinct and since then Modi government has restored cheetahs after almost 75 years.