NEW DELHI: In an ambitious attempt to reintroduce the swift big cats to the nation, eight cheetahs will be flown to India where they will be personally welcomed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his birthday.
Asiatic cheetahs once lived in India, but the country declared the species extinct in 1952.The final three specimens are thought to have been slain by a royal.However, since the Supreme Court said that African cheetahs, a different subspecies, might be settled in a “well chosen location” on an experimental basis, New Delhi has been striving to reintroduce the animals.
The three females and five males from Namibia will initially be housed in a quarantine enclosure at the Kuno National Park in the state of Madhya Pradesh, which is located in the centre of India.Additionally, India intends to import more cheetahs from South Africa in the future.
According to a representative of the environment ministry, “the prime minister himself will be releasing the animals into the quarantine enclosures.” The cats will subsequently be relocated to bigger areas before being let loose in the park’s broad woodland when they’ve adjusted.
After a 10-hour flight, the cheetahs will land in the western city of Jaipur, from whence they will take a helicopter to the Kuno park.According to environment minister Bhupender Yadav, the project is a part of global initiatives to safeguard the species.
The presence of Modi at the unveiling “will inspire and energise all of us,” he continued. Because of its plentiful prey and grasslands, the Kuno park was chosen as a residence.However, some have issued a warning that the cheetahs would struggle to adapt to their surroundings and might run afoul of the several leopards already present.
