Airborne Revival: New Cheetah Batch Flies from Africa to India

Eight more cheetahs from Africa are set to arrive in Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh, as part of India's cheetah revival programme. This initiative aims to increase the cheetah population to 50. The cheetahs will remain in quarantine, and select ones have been relocated to spread the population.

In a significant step for India's cheetah revival initiative, eight cheetahs from Africa will be flown to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday morning. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav will oversee the release of these big cats into their enclosures.

Arriving from Botswana, the batch consists of six females and two males. They will fly to Gwalior aboard an Indian Air Force aircraft before being transported to the park via IAF helicopters. This marks the third batch of cheetahs translocated from Africa, following earlier arrivals from Namibia and South Africa.

The revival programme, supported by the central government, aims to increase the cheetah population to 50. Enclosures are prepared to quarantine the cheetahs, and some have been relocated to Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary to mitigate the risk of disease outbreaks. Since 2023, 27 cubs have survived out of 39 born at the park.

(With inputs from agencies.)