Two African cheetahs at Kuno National Park kill chital; first on Indian soil

According to reports, two male cheetahs--Freddy and Elton--had brought down a chital stag (spotted deer). The milestone is significant in the process of introduction of Cheetahs at Kuno National Park as it indicates that the wild cats are willing to adapt to their new home.

Within 24 hours after being released into a prey-stocked enclosure where they were released inside Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park, two cheetahs that were flown from Namibia made their first kill during the intervening night of November 6-7.

According to reports, two male cheetahs--Freddy and Elton--had brought down a chital stag (spotted deer). The milestone is significant in the process of introduction of cheetahs at Kuno National Park as it indicates that the wild cats are willing to adapt to their new home.

The event is also interesting because the translocated African cheetahs had, till now, never seen a cheetal—the deer is neither found in Namibia, from where the cheetahs were brought to India, nor the entire African continent.

It is reportedly said that the larger enclosure has chitals, blue bulls, four-horned antelopes, wild boars and Indian gazelles as prey base. It is also said that the prey base can be widened, if required.

On September 17, eight African cheetahs—five females and three males—were translocated from Namibia and released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Kuno National Park. As per the protocol worked out by experts, the cheetahs were first placed in a quarantine enclosure for a month-long observation. The cheetahs were reportedly being fed buffalo meat.

However, owing to certain issues, the experts had not allowed the release of the cheetahs from quarantine to the prey-stocked enclosure after a month. Eventually, clearance came, beginning with the release of Freddy and Elton on November 5.

An attempt had also been made for the release of a third male cheetah, but a minor malfunction with the capture equipment has delayed this process by a few weeks.