Cheetah arrival misses Aug 15 deadline

India

oi-Deepika S

New
Delhi,
Aug
17:
India’s
ambitious
project
to
translocate
African
cheetahs
has
missed
an
unofficial
deadline
of
August
15,
but
the
animals
are
likely
to
arrive
within
this
year.

The
government
had
planned
to
bring
the
Cheetah
before
August
15,
to
commemorate
75
years
of
Independence,
but
administrative
delays,
as
well
as
the
presence
of
leopards
near
the
soft
release
enclosure
in
Madhya
Pradesh’s
Kuno-Palpur
National
Park
(KNP)
meant
for
cheetahs
are
believed
to
be
the
reason
behind
the
delay
in
Cheetah
reintroduction
plan.

The
exact
dates
of
the
arrival
of
cheetahs
from
Namibia
and
South
Africa
in
Madhya
Pradesh
are
not
confirmed.
However,
the
animals
are
expected
to
arrive
within
this
year
and
it
would
still
be
among
the
fastest
such
translocations
anywhere
in
the
world.

Funny
animal
attack:
Check
out
what
a
deer
did
when
a
cheetah
tried
to
attack
it

Ahead
of
their
maiden
journey
to
MP’s
Kuno
Park,
the
Cheetah
underwent
a
health
examination
conducted
by
a
team
of
international
experts
of
the
Cheetah
Conservation
Fund
(CCF)
in
Namibia.

Six
leopards
had
entered
the
enclosure,
spread
over
5
square
km,
meant
for
cheetahs
during
an
acclimatization
phase
at
the
KNP.
While
two
of
them
were
chased
away,
efforts
to
drive
out
the
rest
four
over
several
days
are
in
vain,
the
officials
admitted.

Cheetahs
became
extinct
in
India
in
1952.
The
‘African
Cheetah
Introduction
Project
in
India’ has
been
underway
since
2009,
before
picking
up
speed
in
the
last
few
years.

The
cheetah
is
returning
to
India:
How
the
govt
plans
to
bring
them
back

While
India
has
signed
a
Memorandum
of
Understanding
(MoU)
with
the
Namibian
government
for
the
import
of
cheetahs,
it
is
also
in
the
process
of
inking
agreements
with
private
game
reserves
in
South
Africa
and
the
government
for
more
big
cats.