Bhopal, September 16
The special cargo flight carrying eight cheetahs from Namibia left for Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh on Friday night and the felines will be released in special enclosures in the state’s Kuno National Park (KNP) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday morning, officials said.
At around 10.45 am on September 17, which is also Modi’s birthday, three of the cheetahs will be released in quarantine enclosures of the park by the Prime Minister, they said.
The flight carrying eight cheetahs and crew left Windhoek, the capital of Namibia in Africa, at around 8.30 pm (Indian time) and the plane is expected to land at Gwalior’s Maharajpur air base at around 6 am on Saturday, Madhya Pradesh principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife) J S Chauhan told.
After completing necessary formalities, including paperwork, at Gwalior the cheetahs will be flown to Palpur village, some 165km away, in Sheopur district in two helicopters, a Chinook and a Mi category chopper, he said.
From Palpur, the felines will be brought to Kuno National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district by road, Chauhan said.
The cheetah intercontinental translocation project is taking place at a time when India has completed 75 years of its independence.
The eight cheetahs – five females and three males – are being brought from Namibia as part of ‘Project Cheetah’, the world’s first inter-continental large wild carnivore translocation project, officials said.
In a departure statement, India’s High Commissioner to Namibia Prashant Agrawal said, “This is a very special moment indeed. As these magnificent cheetahs board the flight to India, we are being witness to history being made here today.” “This is a global first. This intercontinental translocation is the first of its kind, with no parallels ever. The reintroduction has a special significance as India marks its 75th independence anniversary this year,” Agrawal said.
The Indian envoy thanked the team of Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) led by Dr Laurie Marker for making significant contributions in executing the translocation project.
These cheetahs are the goodwill ambassadors for India-Namibia relations and, indeed, for the cause of conservation of the fastest land animal all over the world, he said.
Prime Minister Modi will arrive at the Gwalior airport from New Delhi at around 9.20 am and leave for KNP, where he will release the cheetahs into quarantine enclosures at around 10.45 am, officials said.
As per the earlier plan, the special plane carrying the big cats from the African country was to land at the Jaipur airport, from where they were to be flown to KNP, around 400km from the Rajasthan capital.
The release of wild cheetahs by the prime minister in KNP is part of his efforts to revitalise and diversify India’s wildlife and its habitat, said a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Thursday.
The introduction of the fastest land animal in India is being done under Project Cheetah, which is world’s first inter-continental large wild carnivore translocation project, the statement said.
Cheetahs will help in the restoration of open forest and grassland ecosystems in India. This will help conserve biodiversity and enhance ecosystem services like water security, carbon sequestration and soil moisture conservation, benefiting the society at large, it said.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister released a glimpse of a cheetah arriving at KNP which sounds Meow on his Twitter handle.
