PM shares news of cheetahs at Kuno
On 17 September, Modi released wild Cheetahs, which had become extinct in India, in Kuno National Park. Cheetahs were brought from Namibia under Project Cheetah which is world’s first inter-continental large wild carnivore translocation project
PremiumNew Delhi: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday informed that after the mandatory quarantine, 2 cheetahs have been released to a bigger enclosure for further adaptation to the Kuno habitat.
“Great news! Am told that after the mandatory quarantine, 2 cheetahs have been released to a bigger enclosure for further adaptation to the Kuno habitat. Others will be released soon. I’m also glad to know that all cheetahs are healthy, active and adjusting well," Prime Minister Modi tweeted.
On 17 September, Modi released wild Cheetahs, which had become extinct in India, in Kuno National Park. Cheetahs were brought from Namibia under Project Cheetah which is world’s first inter-continental large wild carnivore translocation project.
Out of the eight Cheetahs there are five female and three male Cheetahs.
The cheetah was declared extinct from India in 1952. Cheetahs will help restore open forest and grassland ecosystems in India. This will help conserve biodiversity and enhance the ecosystem services like water security, carbon sequestration and soil moisture conservation, benefiting society at large.
This effort towards environmental protection and wildlife conservation, will also lead to enhanced livelihood opportunities for the local community through eco-development and ecotourism activities.
India is home to 52 tiger reserves covering approximately 75,000 Sq Km area in 18 States with approximately 75% population of the wild tiger at global level. India achieved the goal of doubling the tiger numbers in 2018 itself, four years in advance from the targeted year 2022. The tiger population in India has increased from 2,226 in 2014 to 2,967 in 2018.
The budgetary allocation for tiger conservation has increased from ₹185 crore in 2014 to ₹300 crore in 2022.
The population of Asiatic lions has shown a steady increase with a population of 674 individuals with an increase rate of 28.87% (one of the highest growth rates so far) from the 523 lions in 2015.
India now (2020) has 12,852 leopards as compared to the previous estimate of 7910 conducted in 2014. More than 60% increase in population has been recorded.
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