The cheetahs being brought from Africa would not be released straight into the wild of Kuno national park this month as speculated widely because the animals would have to be kept in quarantine for 30 days on their arrivals.
“They will be kept under quarantine for 30 days and observed before release,” environment ministry sources said. “The Cheetah will be brought to either Jaipur or Gwalior airport by chartered flight and from there they would be lifted to Kuno by helicopter.”
The quarantine zone will be in the Madhya Pradesh park that was originally prepared as a second site for Gir lions. A 10 sq km enclosure for cheetahs has been readied to house the animals so that wildlife scientists can check if they are adapting well to the Indian climate and landscape.
So far eight animals from Namibia and 12 from South Africa have been identified. The animals have been vaccinated and they are in quarantine. An MoU with Namibia has been signed and a similar agreement with South Africa is expected soon. The plan is to import 32 animals over a period of time.
Earlier this year, the ministry informed the Parliament that Rs 38.7 crore from Project Tiger was allocated for the Cheetah reintroduction project between 2021-22 and 2025-26. An action plan has been released for the project, which was under consideration for more than a decade.
The Union Environment Ministry in a statement on Wednesday said that the two main objectives of the cheetah reintroduction programme is to establish a breeding cheetah population in safe habitats across its historical range, and to use the cheetah as a flagship species to restore the open forest and savanna systems.