Project Cheetah gets Botswana boost as 8 feline guests to reach Kuno tomorrow

In a major boost to India's Project Cheetah Mission, eight more animals are set to arrive from Botswana, Africa, at Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP) on Saturday (February 28) morning. It will be the third batch of cheetahs from Africa to reach the Indian shores to bolster the cheetah revival programme. The previous two batches originated from Namibia and South Africa, respectively.

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While confirming the arrival of the latest batch of cheetahs, officials said their total numbers in India will reach 46.

Modi launched mission in 2022

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the mission to revive cheetahs, which became extinct in the early 1950s owing to reasons such as hunting and habitat loss, on September 17, 2022. He himself released eight animals translocated from Namibia at KNP on that day. Twelve more were brought from South Africa in February the following year.

The latest batch from Botswana, comprising six females and two males, will reach Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, on an Indian Air Force (IAF) plane before being taken to KNP by helicopters around 9:30 am, Madhya Pradesh's Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) Subharanjan Sen told news agency PTI.

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The flight from Botswana to Gwalior is expected to last between nine and 10 hours, Uttam Sharma, director of Project Cheetah, told the agency, adding the park has five helipads to ensure a smooth landing.

IAF continues to contribute to cheetah revival

He said the IAF will continue to assist the cheetah-revival plan by flying them in from Africa, as it did in February 2023 when the second batch had arrived from South Africa. In 2022, the cheetahs were brought to India by a special chartered cargo aircraft and IAF helicopters then transported them to Kuno.

It was also learnt from official sources that Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav will release the cheetahs into special enclosures under the ongoing cheetah-revival programme in India through intercontinental translocations.

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Sharma said the aim of the mission is to increase the number of cheetahs to 50, according to PTI.

"The arrival of more cheetahs will strengthen India's cheetah revival programme. With the support of the central government, we aim to increase the population to 50 as soon as possible," he told the agency.

Cheetah mission has challenges

The cheetah mission has faced challenges. While some of the translocated cheetahs relocated to KNP died due to health reasons, mating injuries or exhaustion caused by monsoon heat, many of the cubs born to the animals also did not survive.

Last year, 12 cubs were born, but some of them perished. This year, between February 7 and 18, eight cubs were born in two litters (groups of newborn cubs). In all, KNP has seen the birth of 39 cubs since 2023, of which 27 have lived.

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Namibia-born Jwala and Aasha, South Africa-born Gamini, Veera and Nirva, and India-born Mukhi have all produced litters at KNP, officials said.

Three cheetahs were also moved to Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, also in Madhya Pradesh, while 35 remain at KNP, they added.

The authorities also stated that endangered species are not confined to a single habitat because of the potential for disease outbreaks that could eradicate their entire population in one instance.

(With agency inputs)