Twelve cheetahs arrived in Madhya Pradesh from South Africa

Sheopur: Five months after the first batch of eight of these fastest land animals were brought there from Namibia, another African nation, 12 cheetahs arrived from South Africa on Saturday and were released into the quarantine enclosures at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in the Sheopur district.

The Indian government's ambitious plan to reintroduce these animals in the country seven decades after they went extinct includes their transcontinental relocation. In 1947, the last cheetah in the country died in the Koriya district of Chhattisgarh, which is now part of Chhattisgarh. In 1952, the species was declared



extinct.

The number of cheetahs at the KNP has increased to 20 with these 12 new members. On September 17 of the previous year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought eight felines from Namibia into the KNP.

The 12 cheetahs, seven males and five females, were brought to the Gwalior airport from South Africa by an Indian Air Force (AIF) plane around 10 a.m. From the O R Tambo International Airport in Gauteng, South Africa, just before midnight, these spotted animals had boarded an IAF transport aircraft to travel thousands of miles to their new home.

Throughout the journey, each cheetah was kept in its own specialized wooden box.