Rajasthan: Cheetah 'Agni' repatriated from Baran after escaping from Kuno National Park

On December 17, two male Cheetahs, Agni and Vayu, were successfully released in the Parond Forest area of Kuno National Park.

Since then, the tracking team of Kuno National Park constantly kept an eye on the Cheetahs' after Agni managed to escape the Kuno area and wander into Baran which has a contiguous border with Kunoh. Cheetah Agni, passed through the forests of Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh and reached the forests of Kelwara in the Baran district.

Cheetah experts and the forest department team then reached Baran for the operation with half a dozen vehicles for the repatriation operation. Baran DFO Deepak Gupta and Ranger Tarun Rawat were present during the trekking and repatriation operation.

DFO Deepak Gupta said, "A cheetah had strayed from Kuno National Park and reached the forests of Baran, which was rescued by the team and taken to Kuno National Park. The forest of Kuno National Park and the forest of Baran district have the same border, both are adjacent to each other, hence many times wild animals move from there to here and from here to there. Even a fortnight ago, the movement of a Cheetah was seen in the forests of the Shahabad area but it died a few days ago."

The release of the Cheetahs on December 17 is part of the 'Cheetah Reintroduction Project' and allows tourists to see the animals in the designated area.

Kuno National Park is situated on the Northern side of the Vidhyachal mountains and has an area of 344.686 sq km. It was named after a tributary of the Chambal River.

Last year on 17 September 2022, 8 Cheetahs were brought to Kuno National Park from Namibia. Those Cheetahs were released in Kuno National Park in the presence of the Prime Minister.

In the second batch, 12 Cheetahs were taken from South Africa, but out of these 20 Cheetahs 8 have died. Subsequently, twelve cheetahs from South Africa were also translocated and released in Kuno National Park in February 2023.

The entire project was implemented under the meticulous supervision of the expert team consisting of government officials, scientists, wildlife biologists and veterinarians belonging to Namibia, South Africa and India, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had stated. (ANI)