PM Modi Welcomes New Batch of 12 Cheetahs at Kuno National Park

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has welcomed the new batch of 12 cheetahs at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. Quoting a tweet by Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, the Prime Minister said that the country’s wildlife diversity has received a boost with this development.

India’s wildlife diversity receives a boost with this development. 🐆 https://t.co/ceF0dzPcXm

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 19, 2023

A C-17 transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) reached Gwalior with 12 cheetahs from South Africa on Saturday.

Union Environment minister Bhupendra Yadav had earlier informed that 10 quarantine enclosures have been constructed in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park for these 12 South African cheetahs arriving in India.

Last year eight Cheetahs from Namibia had been resettled in this national park.

The cheetahs brought from South Africa include seven males and five females. They boarded the IAF transport aircraft from the OR Tambo International Airport, Gauteng, South Africa on Friday evening.

For Project Cheetah, India and South Africa have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU). Under it, dozens of African cheetahs will be brought to Indian forests over the next 10 years.

Due to overhunting and habitat loss, Cheetahs became extinct in India. The government declared the extinction of Cheetahs in India in 1952. Now Indian government is trying to re-establish the Cheetah species in the country. For which pacts are signed with Namibia and South Africa.  Namibia donated the first eight Cheetahs to India for the Cheetah reintroduction programme.