12 cheetahs to be flown in from South Africa on February 18: Environment minister Bhupender Yadav

New Delhi: Twelve cheetahs will be flown in from South Africa on February 18, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Thursday.

Under the ambitious Cheetah reintroduction programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had released the first batch of eight spotted felines -- five females and three males -- from Namibia into a quarantine enclosure at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on his 72nd birthday on September 17 last year. Presently, the eight cheetahs at Kuno are killing a prey every three-four days and are in good health, officials said. 

One of the cheetahs was unwell as her



creatinine levels had shot up. She has recovered after treatment, they said. "A C-17 aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) left the country Thursday morning to bring 12 cheetahs from South Africa. Ten quarantine enclosures have been created at the Kuno National Park for these felines," the minister said at a press conference here. India and South Africa had in January signed an MoU to transport cheetahs from the African country and reintroduce them in Kuno.

A majority of the world's 7,000 cheetahs live in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. Namibia has the world's largest population of cheetahs.