Gwalior: The first batch of cheetahs, translocated from Namibia to India, has been released into the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh by Prime Minister Modi.
The special cargo flight carrying eight cheetahs from Namibia left on Friday night, landed in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior today at 7:50 am.
The cheetahs (5 females and 3 males) have been brought from Africa’s Namibia as part of ‘Project Cheetah’ and the government’s efforts to revitalise and diversify the country’s wildlife and habitat.
The eight cheetahs were brought in a cargo aircraft in Gwalior as part of an inter-continental cheetah translocation project. Later, the Indian Air Force choppers carried the cheetahs to Kuno National Park from Gwalior Air Force Station.
Prime Minister Modi arrived at the Gwalior airport from New Delhi at around 9.40 am and left for Kuno National Park, where he released the cheetahs.
Cheetah was officially declared extinct in India, in 1952.
Cheetahs will help in the restoration of open forest and grassland ecosystems in India and will help conserve biodiversity and enhance the ecosystem services like water security, carbon sequestration and soil moisture conservation.
Under the ambitious Project Cheetah of the Indian government, the reintroduction of wild species particularly cheetah is being undertaken as per the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines.
Ms Kalinga