Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The male Namibian cheetah Pavan, which had crossed borders of Kuno National Park twice, is likely to stay inside the enclosure for a longer period of time. The forest authorities have no immediate plan to release it again into the wild. It was put inside the enclosure after it was brought from the border of Uttar Pradesh recently.
The plan is to shift Pavan and other cheethas to Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary situated on the northern boundary of Mandsaur and Neemuch.Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (wildlife) JS Chouhan said that some cheetahs might be shifted to Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary after receiving permission from higher-up.
The work to develop Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary for accommodation of cheetahs is underway.
Compared to Kuno National Park, Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary will have bigger enclosure. The enclosure in Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary will be spread across 8,000 hectares. In Kuno National Park, the size of enclosure is 500 hectares.
Kuno has 10 enclosures and average size of one enclosure is 80 to 90 hectares. The size of enclosure in Gandhi Sagar will be 16 times more than Kuno. Within a year, Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary will be ready for cheetahs.
Once in Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary, Pavan and other cheetahs will get vast land to take big leaps, the thing which it loves most.
Sources in forest department said that after being brought from the border of Uttar Pradesh, Pavan has been kept along with two female cheetahs inside the enclosure in Kuno.
The Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetahs in India indicates that Kuno National Park has capacity to sustain 21 cheetahs.
A forest official said that Kuno has already reached saturation level of having cheetahs. There is possibility that out of nine females in Kuno, some may become pregnant and population of cheetahs may increase.
‘It is high time to give a thought to shifting cheetahs in excess from Kuno to Gandhi Sagar or Nauradehi Sanctuary,” he added.
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