Madhya Pradesh: Second site for Project Cheetah after Kuno passes inspection

A delegation from Kenya has visited the Gandhisagar sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh to take stock of preparations for cheetah reintroduction in the area, an official said on Thursday, 23 May.

The six-member team visited the sanctuary, spread across Mandsaur and Neemuch districts, on 21–22 May, he said.

After reintroducing cheetahs — an endangered animal declared extinct in India — at Kuno National Park in the state's Sheopur district two years ago, the government is now planning to bring the big cats to Gandhisagar.

On the first day, the Kenyan team watched a presentation on preparations for the translocation of cheetahs and successful reintroduction at Kuno, the forest official said.

On the second day, it visited enclosures built over 6,400 hectares, including quarantine arrangements for the initial period of 30 days. It also inspected high-mast cameras for the monitoring of cheetahs and water sources for them, the official said.

The visitors were apprised of the equipment and technology which the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) experts would use for monitoring the animals.

Eight Namibian cheetahs were released into enclosures at Kuno on 17 September 2022.

In February 2023, another 12 cheetahs were brought to the park from South Africa. There are at present 27 cheetahs in Kuno, including 14 cubs that were born on Indian soil.