Bhopal(Madhya Pradesh): All the twelve South African Cheetahs have been released into the big enclosures in Kuno National Park (Sheopur). Three Cheetahs were released into the big enclosures on Monday while the rest nine big cats were released into big enclosures on Tuesday, said Field Director of Kuno National Park, Uttam Kumar Sharma while talking to Free Press. They will be kept in a big enclosure for at least a month and later they will be released into the wild where they will join the Namibian Cheetahs.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) (Wild) J S Chouhan told Free Press that after getting shifted into the big enclosures, the South African Cheetahs will hone their hunting skills and learn how to get adapted to the new environment.
The forest officials avoided tranquilization of Cheetahs for their shifting into the big enclosures. The Cheetahs were caught through the medium of the cage and released into the big enclosures, said Chouhan, adding that this was done to ensure that the big cats do not get stressed unnecessarily.
The South African Cheetahs remained in a quarantine enclosure for about two months. The decision to release them into the big enclosures was taken in the last Cheetah Task Committee meeting.
The big enclosure comprises spotted deer which will be the prey base of South African Cheetahs at least for a month. After a month, Cheetah Task Force committee will take the decision over the release of South African Cheetahs into the wild. On being released into the wild where they will join the Namibian Cheetahs.
The four Namibian Cheetahs including Oban, Asha, Fredie, Elton are showing good hunting and adaptation skills in the wild. The Kuno Officials are also planning cross breeding between Namibian and South African Cheetahs so that gene pool can get splitted and the next offspring of Cheetahs should have sound health and good survival chances. The twelve South African Cheetahs were brought to Kuno National Park on 19 February.
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