Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Sept 15: Eight cheetahs will be transported by specially modified B747 jumbo jet to India’s Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, where they will be reintroduced after the wild cats nearly became extinct in the 1950s.
On September 17, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will restore cheetahs to the country’s fauna in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park (KNP). It also happens to be his 72nd birthday on that day. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to suggest that the entire nation is anticipating their arrival. On Saturday, the cheetahs will arrive from Namibia in South Africa.
Both All India Radio and the Press Information Bureau (PIB) have dedicated tweets on their official Twitter accounts to commemorate the return of these animals into Indian fauna.
On September 11, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav announced that in the future, more than 25 cheetahs would be gradually introduced to KNP. On September 17, the first eight cheetahs will arrive at the KNP (Saturday).
After Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo killed the last member of the species in 1947, the Asiatic Cheetah was officially declared extinct in India in 1952. The government of India wants to repair the endangered ecosystem and protect the species through this effort.
It was decided to introduce the big cat by November of last year in the national park as part of the “African Cheetah Introduction Project in India,” which was first planned in 2009. However, according to officials, the project was delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns.
