Cheetahs to arrive at Kuno Palpur on PM’s birthday

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Cheetahs from Namibia being brought here to be released in Kuno Palpur wildlife sanctuary in Sheopur district will arrive on September 17 itself on the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The PM too would land there the same day to lead the country into witnessing the historic event.

Cheetahs were last sighted in India in 1952. Hence, it is almost after seven decades that India will see Cheetahs again on its own land when it is celebrating 75 years of Independence.

As shared by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan with his ministerial colleagues on Tuesday, the PM will launch this first intercontinental cheetah translocation project at Kuno Palpur on his birthday on September 17.

Talking to Free Press on Thursday, an official said, “We can’t bring cheetahs here much earlier as ideally they should not be kept in cages for a longer period while waiting for the PM to arrive and release them into the wild. If we keep them in cages for a longer period this will be a further torture to the wild animals and can result in health complications. It’s almost an eight hours journey from Namibia by air.”

He said, “We have planned to bring the cheetahs at Kuno Palpur hardly half-an-hour before the PM lands so that the wild animals could be released almost immediately into the sanctuary after they reach there.”

The official said the only thing which remained to be decided was whether cheetahs were to be brought via Jaipur or Gwalior.

He said a team of officials and scientists from Namibia would also come along to take care of cheetahs on the way.

Notably, seven helipads are being constructed near Kuno Palpur ahead of the PM’s visit.