12 South African cheetahs to land in India on Feb 18 through IAF plane
New Delhi, February 14: As many as 12 Cheetahs from South Africa will arrive in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park on February 18. South Africa signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) last month on cooperation in the reintroduction of Cheetahs in India to establish a viable cheetah population in the Asian country.
"12 Cheetah from South Africa are expected to arrive on February 18 in the morning but an entire schedule for Darparter of time of Cheetah from South Africa is still not finalised but as per plan, 12 Cheetah is coming from South Africa on February 18," an official of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said.
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The official also stated that this time the cheetah will arrive by Indian Air Force plane rather than chartered plane. The first plane will land at Gwalior Airport and the cheetah will be transported to Kuno National Park by helicopter.
Previously, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released eight cheetahs brought from Namibia at Kuno National Park on September 17, 2022, on his birthday.
All of the cheetahs have radio collars that are monitored via satellite. A dedicated monitoring team behind each cheetah monitors the location 24 hours.
According to the terms of the agreement, the first batch of 12 cheetahs will be flown from South Africa to India in February 2023. The terms of the MoU will be reviewed every five years.
Following the import of the 12 Cheetahs in February, the plan is to translocate 12 more each year for the next eight to ten years.
- ANI
