Eight cheetahs, six females and two males, from Botswana are set to arrive at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, marking the third intercontinental cheetah translocation to the park in four years. The animals will be transported via an Indian Air Force cargo aircraft to Gwalior before being airlifted by helicopter to Kuno.
Upon arrival, the cheetahs will undergo a 30-day quarantine, followed by a period of acclimatisation in larger enclosures before being released into the wild. The addition brings India’s total cheetah population from 38 to 46, with Kuno currently home to 35 cheetahs, including 27 cubs.
The arrivals are the latest chapter in Project Cheetah, a reintroduction initiative conceived in 2008-09 following the species’ extinction in India in 1952. The programme was formally launched in September 2022 with the release of eight cheetahs from Namibia, followed by a subsequent translocation from South Africa. The eight Botswana cheetahs were formally handed over to India during President Droupadi Murmu’s recent state visit.
