Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Though Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had announced that 8 Namibian cheetahs would be released into the wild in February, the date remains to be decided. The date will be decided at next Cheetah Task Force meeting to be held on January 18.
Chief minister is likely to be part of the meeting as Cheetah project is an ambitious project of state government. Sources said that all eight cheetahs would not be released into the wild simultaneously. They would be released one by one.
A senior official at Kuno National Park said help of 15 personnel from Wildlife Institute of India (WII) would be taken for monitoring cheetahs in the wild. Research scholars would also assist Kuno officials in tracking cheetahs and maintaining their records. Besides, trained staff of Kuno National Park would be deployed for the purpose.
Kuno National Park DFO Prakash Kumar Verma said, “Ground level force including dog squad and team of retired army personnel have been deployed to keep watch on cheetahs.”
