NEW DELHI: India is expected to reintroduce cheetahs in the country by August with South Africa agreeing to its request of relocating 4-5 of them in Kuno-Palpur National Park in Madhya Pradesh.
India has plans to relocate 40-50 cheetahs from African countries including Namibia in the next five years as part of its attempts to reintroduce the species that had become extinct in the country.
“The final agreement with South Africa is being vetted by the legal cell. Besides, talks with Namibia are also going on. We plan to intro- duce 8-10 cheetahs every year and take the number to 50 over the next five-year period,” said a senior environment ministry official.
Though the country had earlier planned to first bring a couple of cheetahs from Namibia, the matter hit a roadblock over certain issues related to hunting. Meanwhile, India had been in touch with South Africa which agreed to relocate 4-5 cheetahs by August. “A team from South Africa is visiting Kuno-Palpur National Park next week to examine the arrangements made for the cheetahs,” said the official.
