MP: Cheetahs Will Be Released in Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary, says CM Mohan Yadav

Bhopal: Nauradehi wildlife sanctuary, spanning over three districts of Madhya Pradesh, will receive cheetahs in two months.

Nauradehi is being developed as the third home of cheetahs in the country and the big cats will be released in the wildlife sanctuary in about two months, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said here on Tuesday.

Work is in progress to develop the wildlife sanctuary as the third home of cheetahs and a plan is being worked out to determine how many cheetahs the wildlife sanctuary can hold, a senior forest officer told this newspaper, unwilling to be quoted.

According to the forest officer, three forest ranges, Mohali, Jhappa, and Singpur, under the wildlife sanctuary, have been chosen for development of cheetah habitat.

The Nauradehi wildlife sanctuary spans across the districts of Sagar, Damoh and Narasinghpur in the state.

The development of Nauradehi as the third home of cheetahs will release pressure on the Kuno National Park under Sheopur district in Madhya Pradesh, which now has a population of 50 cheetahs.

A few months back, three cheetahs, one female and two males, were released in the Gandhi Sagar wildlife sanctuary under Mandsaur district in the state.

However, Gandhi Sagar wildlife sanctuary can accommodate around eight cheetahs only, the forest officer said.

“Cheetahs are flourishing rapidly in Madhya Pradesh. Cheetahs will be released in Nauradehi wildlife sanctuary in about two months. With this, Madhya Pradesh will have three homes of cheetahs”, Mr. Yadav said while addressing a cabinet meeting here.

The chief minister’s announcement comes a day after the Namibian female cheetah, Jwala, produced five cubs at the Kuno National Park.