PM Modi christens a female cheetah as 'Asha'; know names of other felines

New Delhi, Sep 18: 'Asha' is the name of one of the eight cheetahs, which were welcomed to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park on Saturday. Well, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the name to the feline.

The PM has christened one of the five females as 'Asha', as reported by Hindustan Times's sister publication Live Hindustan. It means hope in Hindi and it is a meaningful name considering India hopes to increase the population of cheetahs with the arrival of eight from Namibia.

While the PM has named the 4-year-old female feline as 'Asha', a 2.5-year-old Cheetah is called Tbilisi, the report adds.

The oldest among the eight is named five-year-old Sasha while her close friend is called Savannah.

Obaan, Elton, Freddy, Cibili and Saisa are the names of the remaining cheetahs.

It has to be noted that except for 'Asha', other cheetahs have not been rechristened.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday released these cheetahs brought from the African country into a quarantine enclosure at the KNP in Sheopur district as part of a project to revive the population of the animal which became extinct in India in 1952.

At the time of their release, the spotted big cats looked hesitant as they took in the new environment with a look of curiosity mixed with bafflement. As the door of its cage slid open, the first of the eight cheetahs hesitated for a moment or two before stepping out onto the grass. It then ran, came to a halt near a tree and scanned the surroundings, its new home 8000 km away from its native Namibia, by turning the neck in every direction.

But the initial hesitation appeared to be fading on their second day in the new country.

All the eight cheetahs looked fit and fine and drank water kept at their quarantine enclosure in the KNP on Sunday. They were seen wandering and resting in their new habitat. These fastest land animals were seen looking around the new surroundings, PTI reported.