You can soon see African cheetahs on Indian soil at Kuno National Park
Cheetahs to be released into forest in February. Photo: India Today
The New Year is set to bring tourists and cheetahs at Kuno National Park some good news. Madhya Pradesh authorities are prepping to release all eight cheetahs into the wild soon. And tourists will also be able to view the cheetahs (well, the lucky tourists with eagle eyes) in the forest soon.
What's new for the cheetahs: All eight cheetahs at Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh, were released into the big enclosures a few weeks ago after their quarantine period was over.
- By February 2023, authorities are expecting to release all of them into the wild without any special boundaries.
- Currently, the large enclosures of 500 hectares are clear of any competing predators like leopards. But once the cheetahs are in the forest, they will have to co-exist and share the prey base with other predators.
- Preparations are also being done to bring 12 more cheetahs from South Africa in January 2023.
जनवरी में कूनो आएंगे दक्षिण अफ्रीकी 12 चीते#CheetahStateMP pic.twitter.com/mqwZ4W9dYT
— Department of Forest, MP (@minforestmp) December 22, 2022
What's new for tourists: The Tiktoli Gate of Kuno National Park will soon be reopened.
- There are three entrances to Kuno National Park for tourists - Tiktoli from Sasaipura village, Ahera from Pohri village, and Peepal Bawadi from Aagra village.
- Since October 2022, the Tiktoli gate was closed to tourists and the cheetah zone was a no-go. But starting this New Year, the Tiktoli gate will be reopened.
- Once the cheetahs are released into the forest, tourists will also be able to view the big cats roaming the Indian soil for the first time after 75 years.
- According to reports, the cheetahs will bring more domestic and foreign tourists to Kuno National Park once they are released in the wild. Kuno will also be the only place in India where you can spot a cheetah.
Recap: Eight cheetahs (5 females and 3 males) were brought to India from Namibia as part of the cheetah reintroduction initiative by the Government of India.
- The cheetahs came to India on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday on September 17, 2022, and were in quarantine at Kuno National Park.
- They were in quarantine for over a month before the cheetahs were released into a larger enclosure phase by phase.
We are proud & happy to share that after successful acclimatization of the #Cheetahs, they have been now released from the Quarantine.
— Kuno National Park (@KunoNationalPrk) November 29, 2022
#cheetah #success #happy #cheetahisback @narendramodi@PMOIndia @GovernorMP @CMMadhyaPradesh @moefcc @ntca_india @minforestmp pic.twitter.com/h2VSUrZzhc
- The larger enclosure is meant for the African cheetahs to get used to their home, landscape, and prey. The cheetahs are also hunting cheetals (spotted deer) as their prey, something they never saw back home in Namibia.
- Now, all the cheetahs in the larger enclosure are said to be doing well health-wise.
Moreover, the Indian government plans on welcoming 12-14 cheetahs every year for the next five years from South Africa and Namibia. India was home to Asiatic cheetahs some 75 years ago, before they were hunted into extinction. While India wasn't able to get Asiatic cheetahs (now found only in Iran), the government managed to get African cheetahs.