India-Botswana talks to import 8 more cheetahs in final stages, says MP forest official

Bhopal, Sep 29 (PTI) Talks between India and Botswana to import eight more cheetahs from the Southern African country are in the final stages, an official from the Madhya Pradesh forest department said on Monday.

He said that it was too early to say whether the animals would arrive this year or the next, as the final decision would rest on the completion of talks.

"Talks are at the last stage. Now just the dates (for flying in cheetahs from Botswana) have to be finalised," the official told PTI.

"We can't officially comment on the issue, as it involves the Centre and a foreign government. It is not in the purview of the state," he added on condition of anonymity.

On September 17, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released eight cheetahs brought from Namibia into a special enclosure at Kuno National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district. It marked the world's first intercontinental relocation of a large wild carnivore species.

India subsequently imported 12 more cheetahs from South Africa in February 2023.

India has 27 cheetahs, including 16 born in the country, with 24 in KNP and three in the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary.

As many as 19 cheetahs, comprising nine imported adults and 10 cubs born in India, have died of various causes since the project began, while a total of 26 cubs have been born in the KNP so far.

After three years of Project Cheetah, which saw 20 felines imported from Africa, India now has a gain of seven cheetahs compared to the initial number. PTI LAL ARU