"No Greater Gift For State": Shivraj Singh Chouhan On Cheetahs' Return

This will rapidly boost tourism in the state, especially in the Kuno-Palpur region, he said.

No greater gift for Madhya Pradesh than this on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday, state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said this morning, calling the 'historic' ferrying of Cheetahs from Namibia to the Kuno National Park the biggest wildlife incident of the century. आदरणीय प्रधानमंत्री श्रीमान @narendramodi जी के जन्मदिन पर मध्यप्रदेश को इससे बड़ी सौगात हो नहीं मिल सकती कि चीते नामीबिया से भारत, भारत में भी मध्यप्रदेश, मध्यप्रदेश में भी कूनो पालपुर आ रहे हैं। #MPWelcomesCheetahpic.twitter.com/7XPx8yzIzx

This will rapidly boost tourism in the state, especially in the Kuno-Palpur region, he said. "The cheetahs will be a blessing for this region," he added.

India in the past was home to Asiatic cheetahs, but the species was declared extinct domestically by 1952. The big cats are being brought to India from Namibia as part of an intercontinental translocation project called Project Cheetah. This will be the world's first inter-continental large wild carnivore translocation project, the Prime Minister's Office has said.