Bhopal: Cheetah Steering Committee decides to hold landscape mapping to identify sensitive Kuno National park locations

Bhopal(Madhya Pradesh): A high-level meeting of Cheetah Steering Committee was held in Kuno National Park in Sheopur district on Wednesday. The committee decided to go for landscape-wise survey of Park to know the sensitive and normal locations. It will be after this exercise that cheetahs would be released into the wild from enclosures.

Cheetah Steering Committee Chairman Rajesh Gopal told Free Press that all the aspects of Cheetah Project were discussed at the meeting. Besides landscape survey, a Community Group of selected villagers will be formed. The group members will inform field team if cheetah moves into village. For this work, the villagers will get a fixed sum. The community group members will also inform about herbivore killed by a carnivore.

Talking about landscape mapping, Gopal said it would be done through remote sensing, GIS technique to know which areas are sensitive and which are normal habitats. The help of villagers will be taken for landscape survey, which will form the base for future strategy. The analysis of landscape will also tell what changes have occurred in last five years.

Sources said Field Director of Kuno National Park Uttam Kumar Sharma briefed the Cheetah Steering Committee members about the activities of Cheetah Project since its inception. He informed them about deaths of cheetahs.

The meeting was attended by committee members HS Negi, GS Rawat besides Rajesh Gopal. The committee members held deliberations on shifting cheetahs to Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary spread across Mandsaur and Neemuch district.

Published on: Wednesday, May 31, 2023, 10:46 PM IST