Indus Valley Times

BHOPAL, NOV 7:  Two of the eight Cheetahs flown from India to Namibia on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 72nd birthday have been shifted to a bigger enclosure at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh.

The two Cheetahs were shifted to a larger enclosure at the KNP in Sheopur district on Saturday evening, following the nod from the Special Task Force constituted by the centre in September to monitor the Cheetah reintroduction project.

But as per sources close to the MP forest minister Kunwar Vijay Shah, the minister isn’t happy over not being taken into confidence before the two Cheetahs  Freddie and Elton were released into a bigger enclosure on Saturday evening.

Since being flown from Africa to India on September 17 early morning, the eight Cheetahs (five females and three males) were housed in smaller bomas (enclosures) for the mandatory quarantine period. They were to be shifted to bigger enclosure after a month only for better acclimatization with the new environment and gradually start with hunting of prey base. But with the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) Namibia wanting some more arrangements, the shifting was delayed by around 15 days.

While two Cheetahs have been shifted to the bigger enclosure on Saturday evening, the remaining six big cats will be shifted from the smaller bomas, after a female leopard recently spotted in one of

the bigger enclosures is successfully captured by the KNP management. After two to three months in the bigger enclosures, the Cheetahs brought from Namibia are likely to be released in the wild at the KNP.

-TNIE