Two Cheetahs Named Pavak and Prabhas to Be Released in MP's Gandhisagar Sanctuary Tomorrow
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Synopsis
Two male cheetahs, Pavak and Prabhas, are relocating from Kuno National Park to Gandhisagar Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. This historic move is part of a broader initiative to boost wildlife conservation and tourism in the region.
Key Takeaways
- Two cheetahs, Pavak and Prabhas, are relocating to Gandhisagar Sanctuary.
- This is the first instance of cheetah translocation between protected areas in India.
- Post-relocation, Kuno National Park will have 24 resident cheetahs.
- The project aims to restore cheetah populations in India.
- 40 personnel and 90 volunteers ensure security in the new habitat.
Bhopal, April 19 (NationPress) As part of a regional translocation initiative, two male cheetahs, Pavak and Prabhas, are set to be relocated from Kuno National Park in Sheopur to Gandhisagar Sanctuary in Mandsaur on Sunday morning.
This event marks a significant milestone as it is the first time in India that cheetahs are being moved between protected areas.
The journey is anticipated to take nearly eight hours, culminating in the introduction of the cheetahs into a specially constructed enclosure within Gandhisagar Sanctuary.
Pavak and Prabhas, who have been residing in Kuno since 2023, were under observation last year due to neck infections.
Having fully recovered, they are now poised for their transfer to Gandhisagar, where they will undergo a period of adaptation to their new habitat.
After this relocation, Kuno National Park will be left with 24 cheetahs.
According to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, the government is exploring the possibility of relocating more cheetahs to the Chambal region as well.
At a recent event, he stated that moving some cheetahs to Chambal would enhance tourism in the area.
“This is a crucial project initiated under our visionary Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It will significantly benefit our ecological system. The Union forest and environment minister has made this decision following a detailed review meeting. An area of 89 square kilometers has been carefully prepared to facilitate the cheetahs' acclimatization and flourishing,” he remarked.
With the transfer of Pavak and Prabhas, Kuno National Park will now host 24 cheetahs, of which 17 are free to roam in the wilderness. This includes 13 cheetahs born in India and 11 from foreign origins.
For their new environment in Gandhisagar, a vast enclosure covering 8,900 hectares has been established, along with a quarantine “boma” that can accommodate 6–8 additional cheetahs, according to officials.
Expert teams from Africa and Delhi have been conducting regular inspections to ensure the area is adequately prepared. The rich wildlife diversity—comprising species such as chital, chinkara, and nilgai—provides abundant prey to support the natural hunting behaviors of the cheetahs.
To ensure security after the relocation, the forest department has deployed 40 trained personnel and recruited 90 local volunteers, referred to as ‘cheetah friends’.
The sanctuary is divided into three zones for effective monitoring, with a 16-km radius enclosure constructed for surveillance purposes. The cheetahs will be transported in air-conditioned vehicles under the close supervision of veterinarians and forest officials.
These specialists will monitor the cheetahs throughout the journey and will continue to provide care for a week following their arrival. Project Cheetah is a reintroduction program aimed at restoring cheetahs to India after their extinction in 1952.
The primary location for this project is Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh, where cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa were introduced in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
India's native subspecies of this magnificent animal went extinct in the mid-20th century.
In September 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released several cheetahs into Kuno National Park.
