Boost to India’s wildlife diversity: PM Modi on 12 cheetahs arriving in MP’s Kuno National Park
According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, the arrival of 12 cheetahs from South Africa in Madhya Pradesh has increased the diversity of wildlife in India.
Five months after the initial shipment of eight of these swiftest land creatures from Namibia, another African country, the 12 cheetahs arrived on Saturday and were released into quarantine enclosures at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in the Sheopur area.
Tagging a tweet by Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on the Cheetahs arriving in Madhya Pradesh, Modi said on Twitter, “India’s wildlife diversity receives a boost with this development.” In his tweet, Yadav said Saturday, “Welcome, Project Cheetah, launched under PM Shri @narendramodi ji’s leadership, reached another milestone today in Kuno National Park. Released 12 cheetahs in the presence of MP CM Shri @ChouhanShivraj and Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri @nstomar.”
The ambitious plan by the Indian government to reintroduce these animals in the nation seven decades after they went extinct includes their intercontinental transfer. The last cheetah in the nation passed away in 1947 in the Koriya district of modern-day Chhattisgarh, and the species was officially declared extinct in 1952.
The number of cheetahs at the KNP has increased to 20 with the acquisition of these additional 12 animals. On September 17 of last year, the prime minister released eight felines into the KNP from Namibia.
Before being fully released into the wild, the six cheetahs from Namibia—five females and three males—are currently in hunting enclosures at the park.
Picture Courtesy: Google/images are subject to copyright
