African cheetahs in MP's Kuno National Park get Indian names

The name of only one cheetah wasn't changed completely, Asha has an extra 'a' added in her name.

Bhopal:All the 19 cheetahs at Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP) will now be known by their new names as they have been given Indian names. The development came following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal from people to suggest new names for the cheetahs translocated from Namibia and South Africa.

A male Namibian cheetah, who has already earned a tag of "ghumakkad" (wanderer) because of straying away from KNP enclosures twice within one week, has been renamed Pavan, while female Namibian cheetah, Siyaya, who gave birth four cubs recently, will now be called Jwala. Likewise, two other female cheetahs, Savannah and Tiblisi, have been renamed Nabha and Dharti respectively. Male cheetahs Elton and Freddy will now be known as Gaurav and Shaurya. The name of only one cheetah wasn't changed completely, Asha has an extra 'a' added in her name.

While 12 cheetahs (7 male and 5 female) translocated from South Africa in the second phase under reintroduction of 'Project Cheetahs' have also been given Indian names. They have been renamed Daksha, Nirva, Vayu, Agni, Gamini, Tejas, Veera, Suraj, Dheera, Uday, Prabhas and Pavak. As per the officials, following PM Modi's appeal during his programme 'Mann Ki Baat' on September 22, last year (a week after PM Modi had released eight Namibian cheetahs on his 64th birthday on September 17), a competition was organised through mygov.in from October 26 to October 31, 2022.

In response, a total of 11,565 entries were received suggesting new names for reintroduced cheetahs. Official said that the entries were scrutinised by a selection committee and based on the significance and relevance of the suggested names for their conservation and cultural value the new names were selected for Namibian and South African cheetahs.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change congratulated the winners of the competition who suggested new names for Namibian and South African cheetahs.

Notably, a total 20 cheetahs were reintroduced in two phases from Namibia and South Africa under 'Project Cheetahs'. In first batch, eight Namibian cheetahs (3 male and 5 female) were released at KNP on September 17 last year, while in the second phase 12 South African cheetahs were shifted on February 18 this year.

Out of 20, one female Namibian cheetah, Sasha, died of kidney-related aliment on March 27. So, now 19 cheetahs and four newborn cubs are living at Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park. All 12 South African cheetahs have also been released into the larger hunting enclosures, official said.