Madhya Pradesh Cheetah Project: Bhopal (State Bureau). South African country Namibia has given in-principle consent to give cheetah to India. Now there will be a contract between the two countries to bring cheetah and in the first phase 14 to 18 cheetahs will be brought, which will be settled in Kuno Palpur National Park of Sheopur district. A special enclosure has been prepared for the cheetah in the park. It is expected that from the month of April or May, the state government will start duly preparing to bring cheetah. It is to be known that the cheetah is returning to the country after 75 years. The last cheetah was seen in the year 1947 in Korea (now Chhattisgarh). The Indian Cheetah was declared extinct in the year 1952 by the Government of India.
Under the project of resettlement of cheetah in the country, Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun along with Principal Secretary of Madhya Pradesh Forest Department Ashok Barnwal and Chief Wildlife Custodian Jasvir Singh Chauhan had gone to Namibia. In a meeting that lasted for five days, it has been agreed between the officials of India and Namibia to give 35 to 40 cheetahs to India. These cheetahs will be brought in five years and will be settled in different selected areas of the country. In the next phase, there will be a contract between India and Namibia regarding the shifting of Cheetah.
Only after this the date of bringing the cheetah will be decided. In these meetings, the officials of India gave a presentation about the preparations made in Madhya Pradesh regarding the Cheetah and the Kuno Park. This team took off from Doha (Qatar) airport for Delhi on Saturday afternoon. It is noteworthy that this team was earlier to go to Namibia in November 2021, but after first including the Union Forest Minister in the yatra and then deleting his name, the journey had to be stopped due to corona infection.
Now doctors and staff will go
Another team of employees from India may be sent to Namibia by the end of March. In this, the operators of Kuno Palpur National Park, doctors, staff looking after the cheetah will be involved. This team will stay there for about 20 days and take training in cheetah care. Doctors will take training in their treatment in different situations. On the other hand, Namibian doctors and care workers will come to Madhya Pradesh along with Cheetah and will stay here for about six months.
Posted By: Prashant Pandey