Cheetahs to return in India 75 years after extinction: MP’s Kuno Park is new home to the big cats from Africa soon
In 1947, Maharaja of Koriya (now Chhattisgarh) had shot dead last 3 Asiatic cheetahs, following which the species were declared extinct in 1952.
Cheetahs, the world’s fastest mammals are set to return to India after 75 years since the last cheetah was killed in the country. However, the animal was declared extinct in 1952.
In 1947, Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Koriya, Surguja, in what is today known as Chhattisgarh, shot dead the last three recorded Asiatic cheetahs in India.
A team of senior Madhya Pradesh government officials led by principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF) JS Chouhan is camping in South Africa and Namibia. After returning home on February 25 (today), the team will submit its report to the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.
The Kuno Palpur sanctuary in Sheopur will be home to the batch of 12-15 cheetahs who will be brought here soon. Situated at a distance of 125 kilometres from the Gwalior airport, the 344 square kilometre long national park was recommended one of the three sites in India in 1992.
The Centre had launched its action plan at the 19th meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), under which 50 of these big cats will be introduced to the nation in the next five years. The plan to reintroduce cheetah had gone in limbo due to COVID-19, an NTCA official had earlier said.
“An existing coalition of wild males shall be selected while the selected females shall also be known to each other as far as possible.
“The animals’ lineage and condition shall be checked in the host country to ensure that they are not from an excessively inbred stock and are in the ideal age group, so as to conform to the needs of a founding population,” said the over 300-page action plan.
The Supreme Court in 2020 had given the nod to introduce African cheetahs in India on an experimental basis in a habitat which could be clearly monitored to check if the big cat could adapt to the conditions in India.
The Wildlife Institute of India in collaboration with the Wildlife Trust of India had recommended Kuno Palpur and two other sites for introducing cheetahs after assessment in 2010.
