On Birthday, PM Releases Cheetahs Flown In From Africa

Seven decades after the local extinction of the cheetah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today set free three of the eight animals that arrived in India on Saturday as part of an ambitious plan to reintroduce the big cats beginning in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park. We proclaimed cheetahs extinct in 1952, but for decades no proactive efforts were made to restore them, Prime Minister Modi said while expressing gratitude to the government of Namibia for assistance with the programme to do so in India.

“Project Cheetah, under which the cheetahs were reintroduced in the country after they became extinct seven decades ago, is our endeavour towards environment and wildlife conservation,” he said, adding that, “21st century India is giving a message to the whole world that economy and ecology are not conflicting fields”.

The PM noted that before the public can see these swiftest land creatures in Kuno, they will need to wait a few months. “To see the cheetahs released in Kuno National Park, the locals will have to be patient and wait a few months. These cheetahs are strangers to this area and have come to visit us today. For these cheetahs to settle in Kuno National Park, we must give them a few months “explained he.

The PM today released three cheetahs into Kuno National Park to celebrate his 72nd birthday. The PM, who was wearing a fedora, was also seen taking pictures of the cats with a specialist camera. He let two cheetahs out of the first enclosure, and then he let another one out of the second enclosure, which was about 70 metres away.

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