All 12 cheetahs brought from South Africa released from quarantine to bigger enclosures in India

New Delhi: Project Cheetah chief SP Yadav has said that all 12 cheetahs brought to the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh from South Africa in February this year were released successfully on Tuesday from quarantine to bigger acclimatisation enclosures following official clearance.

Yadav told ANI that requisite clearance has been received from Animal Quarantine and Certification Service.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change received the final ‘No objection Certificate’ from the Centre’s Animal Quarantine and Certification Services (AQCS).

As per the certificate issue by AQCS the cheetah (acinonyx jubatus) were quarantined at approved premises of Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh for 30 days and “based on the routine observation and test reports (negative), the cheetah are found free from any infectious disease”.

“Final No Objection Certificate is accorded,” AQCS said.

Twelve cheetahs from South Africa arrived on February 18 in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park after South Africa signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the re-introduction of cheetahs in India to establish a viable cheetah population in the Asian country.

Earlier, eight cheetahs brought from Namibia were released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Kuno National Park on the occasion of his birthday on September 17, 2022. One cheetah died due to illness recently.

Radio collars have been placed on all the cheetahs and there is monitoring through satellite. Apart from this, a dedicated monitoring team keeps monitoring the location around the clock.

MoU terms are to be reviewed every five years.

Following the import of the 12 cheetahs in February, the plan is to translocate a further 12 annually for the next eight to 10 years.

The MoU on the reintroduction of cheetahs to India facilitates cooperation between the parties to establish a viable and secure cheetah population in India, promotes conservation and ensures that expertise is shared and exchanged, and capacity is built, to promote cheetah conservation.

Under the ambitious project of the Indian Government- Project Cheetah- the reintroduction of wild species particularly cheetahs is being undertaken as per the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines.

India has a long history of wildlife conservation. One of the most successful wildlife conservation ventures ‘Project Tiger’ which was initiated way back in 1972, has not only contributed to the conservation of tigers but also to the entire ecosystem.

In 1947-48, the last three cheetahs were hunted by the Maharaja of Korea in Chhattisgarh and the last cheetah was seen at the same time. In 1952, the Government of India declared Cheetahs extinct and the Modi government restored cheetahs after almost 75 years.