On Saturday, India again welcomed 12 cheetahs from South Africa, months after eight large cats were transported from Namibia. After arriving at the air force base in Gwalior, the second group of cheetahs was transported to Kuno National Park.
A 10-hour flight from Johannesburg, South Africa. An IAF C-17 aircraft carrying the second batch of 12 Cheetahs touched down at Air Force Station in Gwalior earlier today.
After being transported later by IAF helicopters. The cheetahs arrived at Kuno National Park.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, and Bhupender Yadav, the environment minister, will release the cheetahs into their quarantine enclosures.
The following information will inform you about the newest inhabitants of KNP:
Three years after India initially proposed the concept, twelve cheetahs, five of whom were female, were flown in from South Africa. In January 2022, India and South Africa agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The country’s forest agency said on Twitter. That South Africa will be translocating 12 cheetahs to India for the first time ever as part of a project. To increase the cheetah meta-population and reintroduce the beasts in the nation.
The forest department of South Africa tweeted a lengthy thread. That demonstrated how these cheetahs were darted and packed into shipping containers before being transported to Kuno.
The Indian Air Force’s Galaxy Globemaster C17 transport was loaded with the 12 cheetahs. They will receive drips of hydration, and the collar fittings will be inspected.
According to Bhupender Yadav of PTI, the cheetahs will leave for Kuno on Friday night from the O R Tambo International Airport in Gauteng. At KNP, ten isolation bomas have been built for the 12 spotted cats.
On February 20 at Kuno, a consultative session with scientists, veterinarians, and representatives from the forest service will take place.
On September 17, 2017, the day before his 72nd birthday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the first group of eight spotted felines. Including five females, from Namibia into a quarantine facility at Kuno as part of the ambitious Cheetah reintroduction initiative.
Since its conception in 2009, the African Cheetah Introduction Project in India has been dormant. Due of the Covid-19 pandemic, the intention to introduce the cheetah by November 2021 in Kuno was derailed.
