Kuno National Park to get 8 cheetahs from Botswana on Feb. 28

A batch of eight cheetahs is scheduled to be translocated from Botswana to Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park (KNP) on February 28, officials said on Monday.

The move will take India’s total cheetah population to 46 as eight cubs were born at the KNP this month. 

Botswana is the third African nation to send cheetahs to India as part of the Union Government’s Project Cheetah. Two batches of cheetahs have arrived from Namibia and South Africa since the project to reintroduce the species in India was kickstarted in September, 2022. Cheetahs officially went extinct in the country in 1952. 

IAF transport

Madhya Pradesh Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF – Wildlife) Subharanjan Sen told The Hindu that the cheetahs — six males and two females — will be brought in an Indian Air Force cargo plane to Gwalior Air Base on February 28.

“As per the information that we have, the IAF will bring them to Gwalior in a large plane and from there they will be moved to Kuno in helicopters,” Mr. Sen said, adding that preparations to welcome the new cheetahs have long been completed at the KNP.

“We already have enclosures ready for them and since this is the third such translocation, our staff is also trained well. Because it involves inter-continental translocation, they will undergo a quarantine process for at least 30 days,” the top wildlife official said, adding that a team of veterinarians and other staff will constantly monitor their health and how they are adapting.

Project Cheetah

Botswana formally donated the big cats to India, under Project Cheetah, as part of a mutual initiative for wildlife conservation, during President Droupadi Murmu’s visit to the African nation in November last year. 

Since they were symbolically handed over to President Murmu, the eight cats have been under quarantine at Botswana’s Mokolodi nature reserve.

The current cheetah population in India is 38, including 27 India-born cubs and 11 adults translocated from African countries. Apart from Kuno, three adult cheetahs — two males and a female currently reside in the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary in M.P.’s Mandsaur and Neemuch districts.  

Since the beginning of the ambitious programme, 21 Cheetahs — nine translocated adults and 12 India-born cubs— have died at Kuno due to various causes.

However, India’s cheetah reintroduction programme has picked up pace after hiccups in the first two years, with officials saying that staff now has the experience to manage the big cats.