'India's Wildlife Diversity Receives Boost': PM Modi Welcomes 12 New Cheetahs In MP's Kuno National Park

Five months after the first batch of eight cheetahs were brought from Namibia, 12 more of these fastest land animals arrived on Saturday from South Africa.

PM Modi on Sunday said that India's wildlife diversity has received a boost after 12 new cheetahs arrived in Madhya Pradesh from South Africa

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that India's wildlife diversity has received a boost with 12 cheetahs arriving in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP) from South Africa, PTI reported.

Five months after the first batch of eight cheetahs were brought from Namibia, 12 more of these fastest land animals arrived on Saturday and were released into quarantine enclosures at the Indian sanctuary in Sheopur district.

PM Modi tagged a tweet by Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on the Cheetahs arriving in Madhya Pradesh and said, "India's wildlife diversity receives a boost with this development."

In his tweet, Yadav said on Saturday, "Welcome, Project Cheetah, launched under PM Shri @narendramodi ji's leadership, reached another milestone today in Kuno National Park. Released 12 cheetahs in the presence of MP CM Shri @ChouhanShivraj and Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Shri @nstomar."

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

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 19, 2023

Experts said a delegation from South Africa had visited the KNP in early September last year to see the arrangements at the wildlife sanctuary for housing the cheetahs. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between India and South Africa last month for the translocation of the mammals.

Their relocation across continents is part of the Modi government's ambitious programme to reintroduce these animals in the country seven decades after they became extinct. The country's last cheetah died in the Koriya district of present-day Chhattisgarh in 1947, and the species was declared extinct in 1952. 

The number of cheetahs in the KNP has now increased to 20 with the arrival of these 12 members. Earlier on September 17 last year, PM Modi released eight felines from Namibia into the KNP.

The cheetahs from Namibia, five females, and three males, are currently in hunting enclosures at the park before their full release into the wild. 

(With inputs from PTI)