BHOPAL: Amid the dark shadow of the deaths of three cheetahs in less than 45 days, five of the 17 Namibian and South African cheetahs housed in big enclosures at the Kuno National Park (KNP) are likely to be released into the open jungles of the park in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district by the end of May.
According to highly placed sources at the MP Forest Department in Bhopal, the task force constituted by the central government to monitor the introduction of cheetahs at the KNP has given its nod for the release of at least five more cheetahs, including Namibian and South African felines, into the open jungles.
“We’re working on it and if all goes as planned, then the five cheetahs may be released in the open jungles within the next 15 days,” a senior state forest department official told The New Indian Express on Thursday.
Once in the open jungles, the five cheetahs (possibly three females and two males) will join three Namibian cheetahs – female Aasha and male coalition Elton aka Gaurav and Freddy aka Shaurya, who were among the four cheetahs released into the open jungles in March.
Of the four Namibian cheetahs released into KNP’s open jungles in March, male cheetah Oban aka Pawan had to brought back into the big enclosure of the KNP (and is now housed in a big enclosure with two females), as it was regularly straying out of the KNP and causing panic to human habitats in adjoining villages.
As per informed sources, the central government task force monitoring cheetah introduction at KNP has in consultation with South African experts and specialists from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) decided to okay the release of five more cheetahs into the jungles after closely monitoring their behavioural patterns.
The KNP, which had welcomed 20 African cheetahs in two batches (eight from Namibia on September 17, 2022 and 12 from South Africa on February 18, 2023) as part of the country’s ambitious project to reintroduce the fastest moving animal on earth in the Indian wilds 70 years after their extinction, now has just 17 cheetahs (seven from Namibia and 10 from South Africa) and four cubs born to Namibian female Siyaya aka Jwala on March 29.
The KNP has already lost three cheetahs including two females in less than 45 days. While Namibian female Sasha died of acute renal infection on March 27, South African male Uday died due to cardiopulmonary failure on April 23 and South African female Daksha died reportedly due to violent mating by the duo Vayu and Agni on May 9.
