On September 17, a significant step in India’s Project Cheetah will unfold: a female cheetah from Kuno National Park in Sheopur is being relocated to the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary. This move comes four months after two male cheetahs were successfully transferred to the Mandsaur district sanctuary.
This relocation is particularly symbolic, as it coincides with the third anniversary of Project Cheetah. The initiative, spearheaded by India, aims to reintroduce these magnificent big cats from various African nations. According to R. Thirukaral, Sheopur’s Divisional Forest Officer, the goal is to enhance the cheetah population at Gandhi Sagar. He confirmed that “Two males – Prabhas and Pawak – were moved here in April, and now we are preparing to introduce Dheera, a female cheetah.” The transfer will be conducted carefully by road, adhering to all safety protocols.
The timing of Dheera’s journey holds added significance, aligning with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district on September 17. The Prime Minister will be inaugurating India’s inaugural PM Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) Park and launching other projects on his 75th birthday. It was on this very date in 2022 that Mr. Modi released eight cheetahs from Namibia into Kuno, marking the official launch of India’s ambitious cheetah reintroduction program, decades after the species went extinct in the country in 1952.
This positive development follows a somber event earlier in the week, when a 20-month-old Indian-born female cheetah was tragically found dead in Kuno National Park. Preliminary investigations suggest the death resulted from a confrontation with a leopard. This young cheetah, a daughter of the African cheetah Jwala, had recently been released into the wild in February after being nurtured in an enclosure. She had independently separated from her mother over a month prior and from her siblings just a few days before her demise. Uttam Kumar Sharma, Kuno Field Director, stated that a detailed post-mortem report is awaited. Currently, Kuno National Park is home to 25 cheetahs: nine adults (six females, three males) and sixteen Indian-born cubs, all reportedly healthy and thriving.