Zambia Follows MP’s Kuno Model For Cheetahs, Plans 2,000-Hectare Soft Release Boma

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Despite facing criticism on several occasions since its inception, the Kuno cheetah project's model has gained international recognition, with Zambia adopting it for its cheetah conservation programme.

Interacting with Free Press, field director of Kuno Uttam Kumar Sharma told that it was in July that six cheetahs were translocated to Zambia from South Africa.

Zambia decided to follow the Kuno model for its cheetah project. It is going to keep cheetahs in quarantine enclosure for a month or more and later it will release them into the Soft Release Boma (SRB).

This will be the first time that it will construct SRB, which will be spread over 2,000 hectare. After this, it will release the cheetahs into the wild by collaring them. In other words, cheetahs would be monitored round the clock akin to Kuno.

He added that Kuno cheetah project was the first project across the globe which radio-collared at least 30 cheetahs and monitored them 24x7.

Nowhere in the world have 30 animals of one species been monitored round the clock. It happened for the first time in India at Kuno, he told.

He said that earlier there were 20 cheetahs in the forest of Kuno and now 18 are in the wild, and are under constant monitoring.

He opined that other countries are recognising the endeavours made under the Cheetah project and it is a matter of pride for not only Kuno but to Government of India as well.

He stated that South Africa and Botswana, which gave cheetahs to Madhya Pradesh, knew how successfully the cheetah project was progressing; otherwise, they would not have been giving cheetahs to the state. Even Americans are praising the project.