India set to be home of cheetahs after 70 years at Madhya Pradesh park

The fastest land animal in the world, declared extinct in the country in 1952, will find a new home in the Kuno-Palpur National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district, said senior forest department official

A wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh is getting ready to welcome its new inhabitants, African cheetahs, which are being brought under an intercontinental translocation project and if everything goes as per plan, the majestic beasts will be here as early as next month.

The fastest land animal in the world, declared extinct in the country in 1952, will find a new home in the Kuno-Palpur National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district probably at a time when India will be celebrating its 75th Independence Day, a senior forest department official said.

“We are working on it. Cheetahs will come to Madhya Pradesh in August,” forest department's principal secretary Ashok Barnwal told PTI.

When specifically asked if the big cats, which can sprint at speeds of 80 to 130 km per hour, will arrive in the park on August 15, he said “It can happen.” Asked whether the world's fastest mammals will be brought from Namibia or South Africa, Barnwal said, “Initially from South Africa.” On the status of memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with these two countries on translocation of cheetahs, the top forest official said they are yet to be finalized.

An MoU will be signed with South Africa soon, Barnwal said without elaborating further.

Cheetahs are mainly found in Africa.

Wildlife Institute of India (WII) dean and senior professor Yadvendradev Vikramsinh Jhala also did not give any exact date for arrival of the fierce felines at KNP.