Kuno National Park - New Home of Namibian Cheetahs

Prime Minister on September 17 2022, released cheetahs flown in from Namibia into the special enclosure in Kuno National Park of Madhya Pradesh.

The introduction of cheetahs in India is being done under Project Cheetah, which is the world's first inter-continental large wild carnivore translocation project.

The Wildlife Institute of India selected Kuno from a list of six potential sites –Rajasthan’s Mukundara Tiger Reserve Rajasthan and Shergarh Wildlife Sanctuary, and Madhya Pradesh’s Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, Madhav National Park and Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary.

Reasons for Choosing Kuno National Park

Located in the northern district of Sheopur, at the heart of the Vindhya range, the national park is dominated by grasslands, which are similar to the African savannas, and sparse forests. Most grasslands in Kuno are bigger than the ones at Kanha and Bandhavgarh.

There is no dearth of water in Kuno and there is abundant prey. Chital, sambar, nilgai, chinkara, wild pig, chowsingha, and blackbuck roam the forest.

Kuno also has ample natural habitat for the cheetah in the form of grasslands, savannahs, and open woodland with evergreen riverine ravines.

Sheopur district, where Kuno is located, has rainfall levels, temperatures, altitude, and conditions similar to that of South Africa and Namibia.

About Cheetah

The Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at 80 to 128 km/h (50 to 80 mph).

Cheetahs are famous for their tawny coats covered in black spots, each arranged in a unique pattern to help the animals identify one another. Bold black stripes streak like tears from the inner corners of their eyes down to both sides of their mouths, and the ends of their bushy tails have black rings.

Distribution

The African cheetah is spread out across Africa from Northwest Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa. With a bigger territory, the African cheetahs have the highest population compared to their Asiatic counterparts. On the other hand, Asiatic Cheetahs are only found in a small region between Iran and Pakistan.

Asiatic cheetahs once roamed the whole expanse of the central Asian continent from India to Afghanistan and Pakistan, but with their numbers reduced, it is hard for them to be sighted outside Iran.

Kuno National Park It is a national park in Madhya Pradesh, India, established in 1981 as a wildlife sanctuary with an initial area of 344.686 km2 (133.084 sq mi) in the Sheopur and Morena districts. In 2018, it was given the status of a national park. It is part of the Khathiar-Gir dry deciduous forests ecoregion. It gets its name from the Kuno River, which flows through it from the south to the north, and is the lifeline of the forest. The vegetation of the protected area includes Anogeissus pendula forest and scrub, Boswellia and Butea forest, dry savanna forest and grassland, and tropical riverine forest. The main predators occurring in the protected area are the Indian leopard, jungle cat, sloth bear, dhole, Indian wolf, golden jackal, striped hyena, and Bengal fox.