Project Cheetah officials to be sent on tours to Namibia: Bhupender Yadav

Union Forest Minister Bhupender Yadav on Monday said officials involved in the cheetah revival plan will be sent on study tours to Namibia and South Africa from where the big cats have been brought in and housed at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.

During his meeting with MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan here, Yadav said he will be visiting KNP, in Sheopur district, on June 6.

Six cheetahs have died at KNP since March. While three of the four cubs born to cheetah Jwala died on May 23, Sasha, one of the translocated Namibian cheetahs, died due to a kidney-related ailment on March 27, and cheetah Uday, brought from South Africa, died on April 13.

Daksha, a cheetah brought from South Africa, succumbed to the injuries following a violent interaction with a male during a mating attempt on May 9 this year.

Money and all logistic support for safety, conservation, revival will be provided, the Union minister added.

Yadav also said Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary is being readied in the state as an alternative home for the cheetahs, though he added the number of cheetahs in KNP was less than its capacity.

CM Chouhan said he was disturbed by the death of three cheetah cubs recently.

It is true the survival rate of cheetah cubs was low across the world but his government would take all efforts to ensure the well being of the big cats, Chouhan said.

Five female and three male cheetahs brought from Namibia were released into enclosures at the KNP at an event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17, 2022.

Another set of 12 cheetahs were brought from South Africa in February 2023.