Sheopur (Madhya Pradesh): Two more cheetahs have been released into the wild at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh, taking the count to 12, officials said on Tuesday. On September 17, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released eight Namibian cheetahs, comprising five females and three males, into special enclosures. The cheetahs were brought to the KNP as part of an ambitious programme to reintroduce the species in India.
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As many as 12 more cheetahs, seven males, and five females, were brought to the KNP from South Africa on February 18, 2023. According to Sheopur Divisional Forest Officer PK Verma on Monday, July 10, two male cheetahs, Prabhash and Pavak, were released into the wild at the KNP. He said that the two cheetahs, who were released into the forest on Monday, were brought to the country from South Africa.
Verma also said that now the number of cheetahs in the free range has increased to 12 and there are five felines and a cub in the enclosures. Six cheetahs, including three cubs born to cheetah Jwala, have died at the KNP since March. Cheetah Jwala gave birth to four cubs in March this year at the Kuno National Park. The last cheetah died in India in the Koriya district in present-day Chhattisgarh in 1947, and the species was declared extinct from the country in 1952.
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