Kuno plans to electrify Cheetah enclosure fence to keep leopards at bay

Kuno, Sep 01: The Kuno National Park authorities are planning to electrify fence surrounding the special enclosure meant for the arrival of cheetahs, in order to keep the leopards at bay. The decision comes days after incidents of leopards entering the enclosure, spread over five square kilometres, for the acclimatisation of cheetahs came to fore.

"To ensure that there is no conflict between the two predators, we will energise the outer fence," Prakash Verma, divisional forest officer (DFO), Kuno, told Down To Earth.

The fence will carry 7 to 8 kilowatts power, which will pulse through the outer fence to deter the leopards from wandering near the enclosure, he further added.

"This is called energising. If a leopard comes close, it will receive an electric shock and will be thrown off. The idea is to train leopards to keep away from the enclosure," added the DFO.

The electric shock will be of mild intensity and will cause no harm to the animals.

Earlier, two elephants are being deployed to chase away four leopards from an enclosure in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park meant to house cheetahs during an acclimatization phase after they arrive here from Africa as part of an ambitious reintroduction project.

Usually, trained elephants are used for a variety of tasks, including encircling animals for tranquilization, driving away invasive animals, spotting amid monsoon and overgrown thicket etc.

Last month, five leopards had entered the enclosure, spread over 5 square kilometres, meant for the cheetahs, and while two had been chased away, efforts over several days to drive the remainder were in vain.

Forest officials have managed to chase away two more leopards last week. Efforts are to trace the fifth leopard and shift it out of the enclosure soon.

The cheetahs, which are expected to arrive next month from South Africa and Namibia, need time to acclimatize due to the long journey as well as new environment here.

Cheetahs went extinct in India in 1952 and the 'African Cheetah Introduction Project in India' has been underway since 2009, before picking up speed in the last few years.