Madhya Pradesh/ 2 Botswana Cheetahs Released Into Wild in Kuno, Join 15 Others in Free Range in National Park
With the release of these two big cats, the number of cheetahs currently roaming free in the national park has increased to 17.
Bhopal: Two female Botswana cheetahs were on Monday released into the wild in the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district.
Chief minister Mohan Yadav released these two wild cats into the wild at Kuno.
The release took place in the designated tourism zone of Palpur East Range with the Kuno National Park, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (APCCF) and Field Director (FD), Cheetah Project, Uttam Kumar Sharma told this newspaper.
Post-release monitoring of the cheetahs will continue through advanced radio telemetry and dedicated field teams to ensure their safety and successful integration into the landscape, he said.
With the release of these two big cats, the number of cheetahs currently roaming free in the national park has increased to 17.
“All the 17 cheetahs in the wild are healthy and doing well”, he said.
With two additional cheetahs roaming freely in the designated tourism zone of Palpur East Range under the national park, the area is expected to witness a further boost in ecotourism.
Visitors will have enhanced opportunities to observe cheetah behavior in natural conditions, contributing to wildlife awareness as well as local livelihood generation, Mr. Sharma said.
A total of nine cheetahs (six females and three males) from Botswana were received at the Kuno National Park on February 28, 2026 and later put in the ‘Quarantine Bomas (enclosures)’.
Following the successful completion of the mandatory quarantine period of 30 days, all the nine Botswana cheetahs were shifted from the ‘Quarantine Bomas’ to ‘Soft Release Bomas’ (enclosures with semi-wild conditions) in two phases on April six and April ten.
Two of them were on Monday released into the wild.
India’s cheetah project got off the ground on April 17, 2022 when prime minister Narendra Modi released eight cheetahs, translocated from Namibia, to the Kuno National Park.
Six months later in February 2023, 12 more cheetahs were brought to the Kuno National Park from South Africa under the project.
The cheetah population has grown to 57, including 37 cubs, now.
While Kuno housed 54 cheetahs, three others were shifted to the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary under Mandsaur district in Madhya Pradesh, from Kuno, a year ago.
