Quarantine ending, efforts underway to shift cheetahs to larger enclosure

According to forest officials, the eight cheetahs — five female and three male — have adapted well to their surrounding over the past one month.

The cheetahs were flown in from Namibia as a part of a transcontinental cheetah relocation programme. (PTI File)

With the one-month mandatory quarantine period for the eight cheetahs brought from Namibia on September 17 about to come to an end, preparations at Kuno-Palpur Nation Park in Madhya Pradesh are in full swing for the shifting of the cheetahs from their quarantine enclosure to a larger enclosure.

According to forest officials, the eight cheetahs — five female and three male — have adapted well to their surrounding over the past one month. A senior official at the national park said the behaviour of the cheetahs were carefully observed over the past week when it rained continuously in the region. The official said it was a relief to see that the cheetahs seemed to settle well and enjoy the rain.

Officials and members of the task force constituted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) are working on modalities, such as the method by which the cheetahs should be moved to their larger enclosure, and whether they should all be moved at the same time.

According to J S Chauhan, the chief wildlife warden, the date of moving the cheetahs will be decided based on the reports of the Namibian experts who are in Kuno, as well as the reports by field officers and veterinary doctors.

The cheetahs were flown in from Namibia as a part of a transcontinental cheetah relocation programme. They were released is Kuno-Palpur National Park in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17.

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