What it takes to successfully move big cats like cheetahs out of their natural habitats
On Friday (September 16), a modified passenger B-747 Jumbo Jet will take off from Hosea Kutako International Airport in Windhoek, Namibia, for Gwalior. On board will be eight Namibian wild cheetahs, five females and three males, the founders of a new population in Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh.
https://twitter.com/IndiainNamibia/status/1570150251096592384?s=20&t=3mXUqdbfd4LrIlEB09L68A
The cheetahs will fly overnight to travel during the coolest hours of the day. Landing in Jaipur in the morning, they will be transferred by helicopter to Kuno, where they will be released in specially erected enclosures by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (September 17).
The cheetah facilities have been developed, staff has been trained, and leopards larking in the enclosures have been moved away. Yet, everyone involved will keep their fingers crossed for the success of the first ever transcontinental mission to introduce African cheetahs in the wild.
Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park, the new home of African cheetahs in India, has enough space and an adequate prey base to house 20 to 25 such big cats, an official has said, as the little-known wildlife sanctuary basked in its new-found global fame.
Madhya Pradesh Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) JS Chauhan, closely associated with the cheetah reintroduction programme, expressed confidence that the translocation plan would be a great success. He said Madhya Pradesh has perfected the art of wildlife conservation and revival of animal species, citing the example of the Panna Tiger Reserve. (PTI)
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Congress leader Jairam Ramesh shared a letter on Twitter which, he said, initiated 'Project Cheetah' in 2009 and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being a "pathological liar" for criticising previous governments of not making constructive efforts to reintroduce the big cat in India.
Along with the tweet he shared the letter he, as then minister for Environment and Forests, had written to M K Ranjitsinh of the Wildlife Trust of India in 2009. In the letter, Ramesh had asked Ranjitsinh to prepare a roadmap for the reintroduction of the Cheetah and include a detailed analysis of different potential sites.
After releasing cheetahs in special enclosures at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told 'cheetah mitras' (friends) to protect the carnivores and ensure that human-animal conflict is avoided.
During his interaction, the prime minister told them not to allow anyone inside the KNP, including himself, until the cheetahs are acclimatized to their new habitat. The PM recalled how he had roped in villagers to protect Asiatic lions in Gir when he was the chief minister of Gujarat.
Eight cheetahs arrived in India from Namibia by a special flight on Saturday morning. Three of them were released by PM Modi in the KNP and the rest five by other leaders under the ambitious reintroduction project. The cheetahs had gone extinct in India seven decades ago. (PTI)
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying eight cheetahs have come and now he should tell why 16 crore jobs weren't created in eight years.
Prime Minister Modi turned 72 on Saturday. It was a busy day for the PM who, among other things, released eight cheetahs brought from Namibia at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh under a landmark project seven decades after the animal was declared extinct in the country.
In a tweet in Hindi, Gandhi said, "Eight cheetahs have come, now tell why 16 crore jobs didn't come in eight years." "Yuvaon ki hai lalkar, le kar rahenge rozgaar (It is the cry of the youth that they will have employment)," the former Congress chief said, using the hashtag 'Rashtriya Berozgar Diwas'.
The Congress on Saturday claimed that in view of the "worrying" job situation in the country, the youth are marking the prime minister's birthday as "National Unemployment Day", and demanded that he provide employment to them as promised. (PTI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned 72 on Saturday, with greetings from leaders and other prominent personalities pouring in and admirers hailing his contribution to making a "strong and self-reliant" India.
From a 15-day blood donation drive in the country to cleanliness and tree plantation campaigns and health camps, scores of welfare activities, like in past years since 2014, were undertaken by the ruling BJP and others in various parts of the country to mark the prime minister's birthday.
It was a busy day for Prime Minister Modi, who released cheetahs brought from Namibia at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, under a landmark project seven decades after the animal was declared extinct in the country, and also addressed several events.
“Normally I meet my mother on my birthday and seek her blessings. Today so many mothers of Madhya Pradesh have blessed me,” Modi said, addressing a large gathering of women at Sheopur (MP). The prime minister said he enjoys the blessings of “lakhs of mothers” and described women as his strength and inspiration. Modi said his mother would be mighty pleased with the outpouring of blessings from women. (PTI)
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday complimented PM Narendra Modi on bringing back the Cheetahs to India after 70 years.
Chouhan in a tweet said, "Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi has given an invaluable mantra for the balance of the earth. This will enrich the earth and human life."
"This is true 'Truth is a holy place, forgiveness is a holy place, and restraint of the senses is a holy place. Compassion for all beings is a holy place and uprightness everywhere. Have mercy on living beings, human life will be blessed," he added.
With eight cheetahs being relocated from Namibia in Africa to India’s Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh, there is hope that the translocation project for reviving India’s long-extinct cheetah population may achieve success.
In India, the native cheetah species was the Asiatic cheetah, which went extinct in 1952. Currently, only Iran has Asiatic cheetahs in the wild, numbering around 12, and the majority of the remaining 7,000-strong population of the big cats around the world is of African cheetahs – the ones that have now come to India. (Read more)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday after releasing the eight Cheetahs brought from Namibia, said that the animals are our guests and urged all Indian citizens to warly welcome them.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi released eight African cheetahs (five females and three males) from Namibia into quarantine enclosures in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park on Saturday, a Twitter thread explaining what led to the extinction of cheetahs in India is going viral.
While sharing archival footage that shows how cheetahs were domesticated in India, Parveen Kaswan, an Indian Forest Services officer, wrote, “Historical record suggests cheetah were in least conflict with humans. Rather they were domesticated and used by hunting parties widely. Even some used to call them ‘hunting leopards’. 2/n” (Read more)
One of the oldest of the big cat species, with ancestors tracing back about 8.5 million years, the Cheetah Conservation Fund, in charge of the Cheetah project on behalf of Namibia, believes that the number of Cheetahs is just under 7,500 individuals globally.
On the occasion of his 72nd birthday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday released eight African cheetahs in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park, nearly 70 years after the big cats were declared extinct in the country.
“It is unfortunate that we declared cheetahs extinct from the country in 1952, but for decades no meaningful effort was made to rehabilitate them,” PM Modi said during the launch of ‘Project Cheetah’ at Kuno National Park. “Now the country has started to rehabilitate cheetahs with new energy.” (Read more)
Here’s what you need to know about the cheetah relocation project.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is celebrating his birthday, released three cheetahs in quarantine enclosures of the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh around 11.30 am. All photos via PTI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his address to the nation by thanking the Namibia government for their cooperation in Project Cheetah.
"I thank our friendly country Namibia and the government there, with whose cooperation the cheetahs have returned to Indian soil after decades," he said in his speech in Hindi.
Continuing his address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the India of the 21st century is giving a message to the world that economy and ecology are not conflicting fields.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an address to the nation following the release of cheetahs into Kuno National Park Saturday, said that with the arrival of the cheetahs, the nature-loving consciousness of India has also awakened with full force.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an address to the nation following the release of cheetahs into Kuno National Park Saturday, appealed for patience from the public before visiting cheetahs.
Referring to them as 'India's guests', he said that India will try its best to follow international guidelines in nurturing them. PM Modi added that though India declared cheetahs extinct in 1952, it is unfortunate that no constructive efforts were made to reintroduce them but for decades.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an address to the nation following the release of cheetahs into Kuno National Park Saturday, said that we lose certain things when we move away from our roots. He said that hence, we should take pride in our heritage. The PM also congratulated the citizens of India and Namibia for the successful release of the cheetahs.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an address to the nation following the release of cheetahs into Kuno National Park Saturday, said: "Project Cheetah is our endeavour towards environment and wildlife conservation."
PM Modi has released two cheetahs into their quarantine enclosures at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. The cheetahs will be kept in these enclosures for the next 30 days, before being released into a larger enclosure.
Here are some photos from the celebrations to welcome the cheetahs from Namibia. All photos via special arrangement.
Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chauhan Saturday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Gwalior airbase.
Two helicopters carrying eight cheetahs reached Palpur near Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh Saturday, following their arrival in Gwalior from Namibia in a special plane as part of the programme to reintroduce the feline in India seven decades after it was declared extinct in the country.
The animals were later taken to Palpur near the KNP in Sheopur district, 165 km from Gwalior, in two helicopters. (PTI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at Gwalior airport on his birthday on Saturday to release eight cheetahs from Namibia to Kuno National Park. He was welcomed by CM Chouhan, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Governor Mangubhai Patel and state Home Minister Narottam Mishra.
Officials at the Gwalior airbase Saturday morning opened up the cargo box containing the cheetahs for a quick health check-up after a long flight from Namibia.
Officials Saturday unloaded wooden crates containing cheetahs from Namibia at Gwalior's Maharajpura airbase in Madhya Pradesh. Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia oversaw the process. (All photos via special arrangement)
The special cargo plane carrying the cheetahs is a modified Boeing aircraft equipped to carry the cheetahs in special wooden crates during the around 10-hour journey from Namibia's capital.
The cheetahs remained without food during the journey and will be given something to eat once they are released in the enclosures, an official told news agency PTI.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan Saturday said that there is "no greater gift" for the state than the return of the cheetahs and that it will boost tourism in MP.
Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangubhai Patel and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan have left Bhopal for Gwalior airbase where the cargo plane carrying the cheetahs and crew from Namibia landed earlier today.
Later in the day, PM Modi will be releasing two male sibling cheetahs into one quarantine enclosure and another female cheetah into the adjacent enclosure. The quarantine enclosures are 50×30 metres in dimension and there are six such enclosures for eight big cats.
They will stay here for a month during their quarantine period before being moved into a larger enclosure which is 5 square km and has nine compartments.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister's office has confirmed that the big cats have landed, reports Express' Iram Siddiqui.
Senior officials have confirmed that the cargo carrying cheetahs have just landed at the Gwalior airport, reports Express' Iram Siddiqui.
The flight was scheduled to land at around 6.30 am, but was delayed. It will take about 30 mins for the immigration process and other formalities, following which the cheetahs will be put on an airforce helicopter and flown to the Kuno National Park.
There has been a delay in the flight carrying the cheetahs from Namibia, as per the flight-tracking website FlightRadar24.
The plane is now expected to land in Jaipur at 7.52 am, over an hour after the scheduled landing time of 6.38 am. However, the landing point was changed from Jaipur to Gwalior, as per an official communication. More details are awaited.
Wildlife experts are relocating cheetahs from Namibia to Madhya Pradesh, as part of efforts to reintroduce the world's fastest land animal into India.
According to the official Twitter handle of the Indian High Commission in Namibia, the cheetahs are set to arrive in their "new home", the Kuno National Park in MP, soon
Over 70 years after it went extinct in India, the cheetah will return to the country on Saturday, September 17, coinciding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday. Eight African cheetahs from Namibia — five females and three males between the ages of 4-6 years — will be flown 8,000 km over the Indian ocean to the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, where they will be released as part of India’s Rs 90-crore Cheetah Introduction project.
India was to receive 20 African cheetahs this year – eight from Namibia and another 12 from South Africa — but Environment Ministry officials have said that while all the protocols from the Indian side to bring the South African cheetahs had been completed, assent from the South African government is still awaited.
This is the first time in the world that a large carnivore will be relocated from one continent to another. Esha Roy explains
Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh is all set to welcome the eight Namibian cheetahs on Saturday as officials battled heavy rain, inclement weather and some blocked roads to complete the preparations for the Prime Minister’s programme to release the big cats.
The special cargo plane carrying the felines, which left Namibia Friday, will land at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh between 6 am and 6:30 am, instead of Jaipur in Rajasthan, as planned earlier, officials said.
The animals will then be flown to Kuno in Sheopur district (165 km away) on an Air Force helicopter, which will take about 20-25 minutes.
Gwalior SP Amit Sanghi told The Indian Express: “We are expecting the aircraft carrying the cheetahs to land early morning at the airbase in Gwalior. All necessary arrangements to ensure a swift and smooth transition will be made.” Iram Siddique reports