SHEOPUR: The cheetahs are on their way. A special charter plane carrying eight cheetahs from Namibia is expected to land in Gwalior on Saturday morning, from where the precious cargo will be flown to Kuno-Palpur National Park in MP's Sheopur district - their new home.
Between 11 am and 12 noon on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unlock the gates to release two male cheetahs and a female into separate enclosures. The fastest animal on the planet will again sprint in India exactly seven decades after the Indian cheetah was declared extinct.
Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan reviewed preparations on Friday and said: "PM Narendra Modi will give a historic gift to the state and the country by releasing cheetahs in Kuno National Park for resettlement after a long gap of 70 years."
For the last seven days, forest, revenue and police officials have been camping on site as preparations are in full swing to welcome the PM and cheetahs. It's also Modi's birthday. Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar visited Kuno to supervise arrangements on Friday. Police have cordoned off the area.
Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar visited Kuno to supervise arrangements on Friday. Police have cordoned off the area and the SPG will take charge on Saturday. More than 700 security personnel have been deployed inside the protected area. It’s just as well the cheetahs are being flown to Kuno as the roads are in terrible condition.
On Thursday, administrative and police officers had a taste of this as over 250 vehicles were stranded for hours after two vehicles got stuck in the mud inside Kuno.In the villages around the reserve, however, there is euphoria over the PM’s visit and the cheetahs’ arrival. They have been sensitized to the cheetah project in the last few months and have shed their inhibitions and fears.
TOI had reported in April that land prices around Kuno have shot up three times in just a few months. The object of all this excitement — the cheetahs — are in for an 11- hour transcontinental journey to Kuno. Each has been vaccinated, fitted with a satellite collar, and was kept in isolation at the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) Centre in Otjiwarongo. The cheetahs were selected on an assessment of health, wild disposition, hunting skills and ability to contribute genetics that will result in a strong founder population, said an official release.
CCF staff are escorting the cheetahs to their new home. The final movement began on Friday afternoon. The cheetahs were shifted from the CCF Centre to Hosea Kutako International Airport in Windhoek, Namibia’s capital. After a brief ceremony to acknowledge Namibia’s donation and the significance of the mission, they were loaded on a private Boeing 747.
A CCF release said: “This group of iconic, spotted big cats is making history as the first to be translocated from southern Africa to Asia to create a new meta population, in a place where cheetahs once roamed freely, but were extirpated more than 70 years ago.
Namibia, the country that has traditionally had the greatest density of wild cheetahs, is donating the first eight individuals as part of a larger, multi-year agreement to help conserve the species through India’s Project Cheetah.”
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