Second batch of 12 South African cheetahs likely to arrive at Kuno National Park this month: Report

On September 17, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had released the first batch of eight cheetahs -– five females and three males -– from Namibia into a quarantine enclosure at the Kuno National Park.

A second batch of as many as 12 cheetahs are likely to arrive in India from South Africa in January 2023, sources said on Tuesday. It is reportedly said that discussions with South African authorities to translocate the cheetahs to Kuno are at an advanced stage and the animals are likely to arrive in January, a source from the Union Environment Ministry said.

Officials from the Kuno National Park gave a presentation on the preparedness for the introduction of the 12 cheetahs, comprising seven males and five females, at the 20th meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) at the Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka.

For the last six months, the cheetahs have been in quarantine in South Africa. A memorandum of understanding for the intercontinental transfer of the spotted felines is yet to be signed.

According to the 'Action Plan for Reintroduction of Cheetah in India' prepared by the Wildlife Institute of India, around 12-14 wild cheetahs (8-10 males and 4-6 females) that are ideal for establishing a new cheetah population would be imported from South Africa, Namibia and other African countries.

On September 17, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had released the first batch of eight cheetahs -– five females and three males -– from Namibia into a quarantine enclosure at the Kuno National Park.

It can be seen that the cheetahs have come back to India 70 years after the species was declared extinct in the country in 1952. The large carnivore got completely wiped out from the country due to over-hunting and habitat loss.