Cheetahs make a comeback to India
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Loading... - Samarth Singh
- 19 Oct 2022
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Eight wild cheetahs — three males and five females flown from Namibia — were set free from their transport cages inside a holding area at India's Kuno National Park last week.
It is the first step in an ambitious attempt to reintroduce the feline species to the South Asian country, seven decades after they died out there.
The cheetahs will quarantine for a month before being released into a larger enclosure inside the sprawling park in the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who was celebrating his 72nd birthday — was there to welcome the cheetahs to their new home.
"A long wait is over," Modi wrote on Twitter together with pictures of the cheetahs in their new environment.
For now, the cats will be kept in a specially built compound where they will be monitored for disease and adaptation before being released into the bigger enclosure.
The Asian cheetahs were native to India before they were declared extinct in 1952 — largely due to habitat loss and hunting for their distinct spotted pelts.
Will the cheetahs survive?
It's the first attempt to relocated cheetah's from Africa to India and there were mixed reactions to the animals' move.
"As a conservationist, I am thrilled, and as Cheetah Conservation Fund's leader, I am exceptionally proud of the work of our reintroduction team," said Laurie Marker, the founder and executive director of the Namibian-based CCF, in a press release. Read More…
