‘Kuno National Park will now become centre of attraction in Asia’
bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that with the arrival of 12 more cheetahs, the KNP will now become the centre of attraction in Asia continent and the opportunity for employment will be increased in the area.
After releasing the spotted felines, which arrived at Kuno National Park (KNP) in the Sheopur district of the state from South Africa on Saturday, the CM said that for developing the facilities like stay and others for tourists, the state government was working continuously on infrastructure at the KNP. While interacting with the ‘Cheetah Mitras’ who are the villagers of adjoining villages of KNP and have been engaged in creating awareness among the local people ensuring the security of the big cats, the CM said that the KNP would become the centre of attraction in the Asia continent. The employment opportunities would also be increased in the area, Chouhan added.
On Saturday, CM Chouhan along with Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar and Environment and Forests Minister Bhupendra Yadav and MP Forests Minister Vijay Shah released another batch of 12 South African Cheetahs into the quarantine enclosures of the KNP.
“MP got big gifts of the 12 cat species on the occasion of Maha Shivratri that have been translocated to the park from South Africa. I am heartily thankful to PM Modi Ji for that,” CM Chouhan said to reporters.
“The thinking of PM Modi is of protecting the environment and conserving wildlife, which is giving direction to the entire world. The cheetah project is an effort to promote this emotion,” Chouhan added.
This is the second batch of cheetahs brought to the park from Namibia of South Africa. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had released the first batch of eight cheetahs comprising 5 females and three males on his birthday on September 17 into the same forest park last year. So far, a total of 20 spotted felines comprising each 10 male and female have been translocated in the country (in KNP) under the ongoing ‘Cheetah Reintroduction Project.’ On this occasion, Union Minister Tomar announced that twelve cheetahs would be brought to KNP every year.
The new 12 spotted creatures comprising seven males and five females landed at the Indian Air Force (IAF) Base in Gwalior at 10 am on the same day from the IAF’s Boeing C-17 Globemaster. After that, they were lifted to KNP using IAF’s Mi-17 helicopter.
The eight cheetahs that were earlier translocated are currently in hunting enclosures before being released into the wild.
The last cheetah died in the country in the Koriya district of the present-day Chhattisgarh in 1947 and the species was declared extinct in 1952.
A delegation of cheetah experts, veterinarians and senior forest officials from both the countries has come with the felines, which will look after the translocated spotted cats. All 12 newly-translocated cheetahs have been housed in specially created enclosures at KNP for completing the mandatory quarantine period where the animals will be intensively monitored.
Elaborate arrangements have been made for the care of the felines, and 10 quarantine enclosures including two old and 8 new have been prepared.
Besides, two isolation wards have also been prepared, said a government press note. The KNP has been selected as a beautiful and ideal habitat for the cheetahs, where there are large grasslands, small hills, and forests. It is very suitable for the spotted creatures.
