South Africa signs deal with India to transfer dozens of Cheetahs: Reports

South Africa has entered into a deal with India to introduce dozens of African cheetahs to the Asia county over the next decade, said reports on January 26.

As per reports, an initial batch of 12 cheetahs is scheduled to be flown from South Africa to India in February 2023.

''The plan is to translocate a further 12 annually for the next eight to 10 years,'' reports quoted South Africa’s environmental department as saying.

It is worth mentioning that about 70 years ago, a huge cat species like the cheetah went extinct in India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17, 2022, released eight cheetahs brought from Namibia into an enclosure in Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh in the presence of chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and wildlife experts. 

These Cheetahs were brought in a special cargo jet as part of a programme to reintroduce the feline to India seven decades after it was declared extinct.

The huge cats were then taken in a helicopter to their new habitat, Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur region, where Prime Minister released them on his 72nd birthday.

According to reports, two male sibling cheetahs will be released into one quarantine enclosure and another female cheetah will be released into the adjacent enclosure. 

The quarantine enclosures are 50×30 metres in dimension and there are six such enclosures for eight big cats.

Reacting over this, the Congress party had said that the proposal for ‘Project Cheetah’ was prepared in 2008-09 and approved by the then Manmohan Singh-led UPA government.

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