MP: Female Cheetah Jwala Ventures out of Kuno, Rescued in Ranthambore National Park of Rajasthan

 Bhopal: Female cheetah Jwala ventured out of the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district and traversed around 180 km over two days before being rescued in Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR) in Rajasthan on Tuesday.

Jwala was spotted in the Karira village under Baharbanda Kalan police station in Sawai Madhopur district in Rajasthan on Tuesday morning and later rescued by the rescue team of the KNP after being tranquilized, a senior forest officer told this newspaper.

The village, bordering Madhya Pradesh, falls under the RTR.

The cheetah had hunted two goats in the village before moving to a cattle shed to take rest, the forest officer said.

Jwala had by then travelled around 180 km over two days.

The cheetah, radio collared, had been under round-the-clock vigil by the tracking team of the KNP and the forest departments of both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan were put on alert after the big cat strayed out of Kuno and headed towards Rajasthan border a couple of days ago, sources said.

“Jwala was rescued from a village falling under the RTR in Sawai Madhopur district on Tuesday. The big cat had been under constant vigil by the cheetah tracking team of Kuno”, field director of the KNP Uttam Kumar Sharma told this newspaper.

Jwala was spotted in Manpur and later in Kashipur area in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday after fleeing the KNP.

The cheetah was later found roaming in the Rameshwaram Triveni Sangam area in Sawai Madhopur district where the Chambal, Banas, and Seep rivers meet, on Monday evening.

Jwala had hunted a cow in Fatehpur village in the area on the way to Karira village, a member of the rescue team told this newspaper.

Jwala had earlier frequently ventured out of the KNP along with its four cubs. They were later brought back to Kuno.

This time, however, the cubs did not accompany Jwala.

“Fortunately, Jwala had not confronted any tiger in Ranthambore during its movement in the national park”, the forest officer said.

Twenty cheetahs, eight from Namibia and 12 from South Africa, were brought to the KNP three years ago under a cheetah reintroduction project.

After the death of some cheetahs and the birth of cubs, there are currently 27 cheetahs in Kuno.

Two male cheetahs were recently relocated to Gandhi Sagar wildlife sanctuary in Mandsaur district in Madhya Pradesh.