Due to lack of space at Kuno, some cheetahs to be shifted to new enclosure soon

Madhya Pradesh Forest and Wildlife Department have written to the Centre and requested to find out some alternative habitats for cheetahs translocated from South Africa. J. S. Chouhan Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) said spread over 748 sq km area,the KNP has capacity to accommodate maximum 21 cheetahs at one time, however, this number needs to be reduced to provide larger area for venturing each of them and also to ensure their safety.

"It will be a risk to keep all the cheetahs in one place and therefore, I have requested the Centre to find an alternative place to shift some of them," J. S. Chouhan told IANS on Tuesday, however, he did not mention exactly how many cheetahs would be shifted from KNP.

A total 20 cheetahs (eight from Namibia and 12 from South Africa) were released at KNP enclosure in two phases, out of which, two have died within a period of one month. Female Namibian cheetah aSasha' died of kidney related aliment on March 27, while African male cheetah, who was given name aUday' last week, died of cardiac arrest on Sunday.

As the aproject cheetah' is monitored by Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) under the supervision of Ministry of Forest, it would finalise new habitats and the number of cheetahs to be shifted. However, if sources are to be believed, at least four-five cheetahs (both male and female) would be shifted to a new habitat.

Sources also told IANS that most likely cheetahs would be shifted to Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve (MHTR), which is located in Rajasthan's Kota district. As per the reports, cheetah experts have also recommended MHTR as the best possible site for cheetahs as it was also included in the risk management plan.

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