Wildlife Experts Reach Kuno To Monitor Project Cheetah

A team of the newly constituted steering committee has reached Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh to monitor the progress of the government's ambitious 'Cheetah Project'.

This comes in the wake of the death of three adult cheetahs and three cubs in the last two months due to various reasons.

The high-level committee has been set up to review, progress, monitor, and (give) advice on the cheetah introduction to the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department and the NTCA.

It will provide suggestions on the opening of the cheetah habitat for eco-tourism and on regulations in this regard.

The panel will be in force for two years and will hold at least one meeting every month. It will also provide suggestions on community interface and for their involvement in project activities.

Experts believe that the reintroduction project is going to see even higher mortality in the next few months when cheetahs try to establish territories and come face to face with leopards and tigers at the Kuno National Park.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has expressed concerns over the lack of space and logistical support at Kuno Park and has suggested shifting cheetahs to other sanctuaries.

Under the ambitious reintroduction programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the first batch cheetahs from Namibia into a quarantine enclosure at Kuno on his 72nd birthday on September 17 last year. In a second such translocation, 12 cheetahs were flown in from South Africa and released into Kuno on February 18.