Indus Valley Times

Madhya Pradesh,Apr 7:  Oban, the male Namibian cheetah that escaped from Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park and was seen in a village, was brought back to the national park on Thursday. After the cheetah showed no signs of returning to the national park even after five days, the forest department team rescued him from the forest of Shivpuri district.

Oban is one of the four Namibian cheetahs that were released into the wild at Kuno National Park. He was released into the wild along with a female cheetah, Asha. Afterwards, two more male cheetahs, Elton and Freddie, were also released successfully.

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However, Oban crossed the park’s boundaries on April 2 and was spotted in Jhar Baroda village, Vijaypur, which is 20 kilometres away from Kuno National Park. The next day, he was spotted in Parwati Baroda village drinking water from a river.

On Tuesday, he returned to the national park’s boundaries for some time. However, instead of entering the park, he reached the buffer zone near the Nahad-Silpura area. From there, he went to the Piparwas forest in Pohri tehsil, where he stayed for two days.

On Wednesday, Oban satisfied his hunger by hunting a black buck.

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Several teams from Kuno, including the Agra Forest Range, were continuously tailing Oban while he went around the villages and forests. After he showed no signs of returning to the park, the forest department team on Thursday gave him a tranquiliser while he was in Rampura village and brought him back to Kuno.

Oban’s presence in the villages has been scaring locals, who were relieved after he was safely taken back to Kuno.

Talking to India Today, the DFO of Kuno National Park, Prakash Kumar, said Oban has been rescued successfully and he is reunited with Asha, Elton and Freddie at Kuno.

-PTI