12 Cheetahs Begin Journey from South Africa To India, To Be Released In Kuno National Park On Saturday. In Pics

The cheetahs will be transported by an Indian Air Force C-17 Globemaster Cargo jet, which is expected to touch down at Gwalior Airport around 10:00am.

Cheetahs

Twelve cheetahs, seven males and five females from South Africa, have began their voyage to India and are expected to arrive on Saturday, according to environment minister Bhupender Yadav. (Source: PTI)

All of the cheetahs have radio collars that are tracked through satellite during their long voyage.(Source: PTI)

The cheetahs will be transported by an Indian Air Force C-17 Globemaster Cargo aircraft, which is due to land at Gwalior Airport at 10:00 a.m. (Source: Twitter/@byadavbjp)

The wild cats will be quarantined for a month after they arrive, and their health will be meticulously monitored.(Source: Twitter/@byadavbjp)

The second group of cheetahs will arrive five months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi released eight cheetahs from Namibia into Kuno National Park on September 17, 2016, to begin the world's first intercontinental cheetah translocation initiative. (Source: Twitter/@byadavbjp)

The ambitious "Project Cheetah" was initiated by the government with the purpose of restoring the animal to its previous habitat in India, 71 years after the last reported cheetah was hunted down in Chhattisgarh in 1952. (Source: Twitter/@byadavbjp)