African Cheetahs in India: Unleashing the Wild Journey

African cheetahs, brought to India as part of an intercontinental translocation project, will soon be released into the wild. The Cheetah Project Steering Committee has decided to release them in phases after the monsoon. The project has seen successes and challenges, including the deaths of several cheetahs due to infections.

African cheetahs brought to India as part of the world's first intercontinental translocation project are set to be released into the wild. This comes nearly a year after they were placed in enclosures at Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park for health check-ups and monitoring, according to officials.

Officials announced that the Centre's Cheetah Project Steering Committee decided on Friday to release the African cheetahs and their India-born cubs in a phased manner post-monsoon. Field visits by committee members and NTCA officials at Kuno helped finalize the schedule. Adult cheetahs will be released first, with cubs and their mothers following in December.

The first batch of eight cheetahs from Namibia was introduced in September 2022, followed by twelve from South Africa in February. Some initially released cheetahs were brought back to enclosures in August due to infections that caused three deaths. Future cheetahs may be sourced from Northern Hemisphere countries to avoid similar issues, per government reports.

(With inputs from agencies.)