Cheetahs from South Africa likely to be brought to India next month

After months of delay a dozen cheetahs from South Africa are likely to be finally flown into India next month and housed in the Kuno National Park KNP in Madhya Pradesh where eight such felines from Namibia were brought last year under a project an expert saidA Memorandum of Understanding MoU was signed between New Delhi and Pretoria South Africas administrative capital last week the expert associated with Indias cheetah revival project told PTI over phone on the condition of anonymityI think the cheetahs from South Africa will land in India around midFebruary he saidSouth Africa has donated these big cats to India But India has to pay USD 3000 for the capture of every cheetah to the African nation before they are translocated he saidTalking to PTI KNP director Uttam Sharma said We are waiting for the arrival of 12 South African cheetahs We have set up 10 quarantine bomas enclosures for them In two of these facilities two pairs of cheetah brothers would be keptWe have come to know that Pretoria has issued an order for the translocation of cheetahs after signing the MoU another official of the MP forest department saidDue to the delay in the signing of the MoU for the intercontinental translocation of these big cats some experts had last month expressed concern over the health of the South African cheetahs as these animals have been quarantined there since July 15As a result of long quarantine these animals might have lost their fitness they had saidProlonged quarantine could be taking a toll on the health of these big cats who are slated to join the eight cheetahs imported from Namibia and released into the KNP in Sheopur district midSeptember the experts had saidIn fact the 12 South African cheetahs seven males and five females have not hunted for themselves even once after being kept in bomas wildlife experts in the know of Indias cheetah reintroduction plan had saidThree of them have been kept in Phinda quarantine boma in KwaZuluNatal Province and nine in Rooiberg Quarantine boma in Limpopo Province since July 15 they saidThey have lost fitness to a considerable extent as they have not hunted even once since July 15 one of the experts told PTI last monthThey might have put on weight like humans sitting idle he saidLast month South African Minister of Environment Forestry and Fisheries Barbara Creecy cleared the Indian proposal on translocation of cheetahs so that the South African president signs the final agreement he addedExperts said that a delegation from South Africa visited the KNP in early September to see arrangements at the wildlife sanctuary for housing the worlds fastest land mammalsPrime Minister Narendra Modi on his 72nd birthday on September 17 had released eight cheetahs flown in from Namibia into the KNP amid a lot of fanfare setting the ball rolling for the revival of their population in India where these distinctively spotted cat species became extinct seven decades agoAlso Read Pariksha Pe Charcha Students are taking my test and I enjoy it says PM ModiThese fastest land animals from Namibia five females and three males are currently in hunting enclosures at the park before their full release into the wildFive months back India wanted to import eight cheetahs from Namibia and 12 from South Africa for their release into the KNP to add glitter to 75th Independence Day celebrations But the plan did not materialise the wildlife experts saidIn August the 12 cheetahs selected by Indian officials for translocation had completed onemonth in quarantine but they couldnt be airlifted to KNP in absence of approval from the South African government Around Independence Day the eight Namibian cheetahs had not completed their quarantine period so the Indian government could not bring them to KNP as well the experts saidAs per Indian wildlife laws a monthlong quarantine is mandatory before importing animals and they are required to be kept in isolation for another 30 days after arrival in the countryThe experts said that the spotted animals metapopulation cheetah count in small and medium parks in South Africa has risen to 504 from 217 in 2011The last cheetah died in India in Koriya district of presentday Chhattisgarh in 1947 and the big cat species was declared extinct in 1952Former Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had initiated Project Cheetah in 2009 under the United Progressive Alliance UPA government with an aim to reintroduce the wild cats in IndiaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever