An Indian Air Force (IAF) plane carrying cheetahs in wooden boxes from South Africa had arrived at Gwalior airport around 10 am. From there, they were flown to the KNP in IAF helicopters. Pics/Defence PRO
The cheetahs - seven males and five females - comprise the second set of big cats coming to the Kuno National Park, the first set of eight from Namibia having been released on September 17 last year at a function by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The intercontinental translocation of the fastest land animals - first from Namibia and now from South Africa - is part of the Indian government's ambitious cheetah reintroduction programme called the 'Cheetah Project'.
Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and thanked him for increasing the number of cheetahs in Kuno National Park.
Hours after the cheetahs were brought to Madhya Pradesh, they were released into the quarantine enclosures at the Kuno National Park. CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Minister for Environment and Forests Bhupender Yadav released these felines into the quarantine bomas.
The country's last cheetah reportedly died in Koriya district of present-day Chhattisgarh in 1947 and the species was declared extinct in 1952.
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