Two cheetahs from Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh have been tracked travelling 60–70 km into Baran, Rajasthan, a movement the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has described as natural territorial behaviour. The animals, KP2 and KP3, are among the first generation of cubs born in India, descended from African cheetahs translocated under Project Cheetah in 2022.
Currently positioned about six kilometres apart on either bank of the Parvati River, both cheetahs are satellite-tracked and radio-collared, monitored around the clock by a joint inter-state field team. The NTCA noted that such long-distance dispersal reinforces the case for a proposed 17,000 sq. km Kuno–Gandhi Sagar wildlife corridor spanning 15 districts across both states.
The movement comes shortly after nine cheetahs from Botswana arrived on 28 February, the third African nation to contribute to the programme after Namibia and South Africa. Since September 2022, 29 adult cheetahs have been translocated to India, with 28 cubs born on home soil, a quiet but significant milestone in the species’ return after its extinction in India in 1952.
