Eight cheetahs from Namibia landed here on Saturday, as part of the programme to reintroduce the feline in India seven decades after it was declared extinct in the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is celebrating his birthday, released three cheetahs in quarantine enclosures of the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh around 11.30am.

Cheetahs are being introduced in India under Project Cheetah, which is the world’s first inter-continental large wild carnivore translocation project. The eight cheetahs – five females, three males –were brought from Namibia under an MoU signed earlier this year.

The cheetahs were brought in a special flight of Terra Avia, an airline based at Chisinau, Moldova in Europe that operates chartered passenger and cargo flights. After the modified Boeing 747 landed at the Gwalior airbase at 7.47am, the felines were flown in two Air Force helicopters to Palpur near the Park.

After the plane landed at Gwalior, the ground personnel were seen helping transfer the crates, marked Live Animals, to the waiting choppers.

The aircraft, which took off from the African country Friday night, carried the cheetahs in the special wooden crates during the around 10-hour journey.

Before their flight from Namibia, the cheetahs, the fastest land animals in the world, were treated with a tranquilizer that lasts for three to five days.

The animals were flown to the park in Sheopur district, 165 km away from Gwalior. The journey took about 20-25 minutes, an official said. The park is situated on the northern side of Vidhyachal mountains and is spread across 344 sq km.

The cheetahs remained without food during the transcontinental journey and will be given something to eat now that they have been released in the enclosures, the official said.

PM Modi released three cheetahs in Kuno National Park. (Photo credit: PIB Delhi)

A dais was set up in the park under which special cages carrying cheetahs were kept and Modi, who turned 72 on Saturday, released three of them in an enclosure by operating a lever.

After that, other dignitaries released the remaining cheetahs in other enclosures.

The Prime Minister also interacted with Cheetah Mitras (Cheetah friends), the Cheetah Rehabilitation Management Group members and students at the venue. The Prime Minister addressed the Nation on this historic occasion.

The release of wild cheetahs by the Prime Minister in Kuno National Park is part of his efforts to revitalise and diversify India’s wildlife and its habitat. The cheetah was declared extinct from India in 1952.

The aim of the cheetah reintroduction program is to help restore open forest and grassland ecosystems in India. This will help conserve biodiversity and enhance the ecosystem services like water security, carbon sequestration and soil moisture conservation, benefiting society at large. This effort, in line with the Prime Minister’s commitment to environmental protection and wildlife conservation, will also lead to enhanced livelihood opportunities for the local community through eco-development and ecotourism activities.

The historic reintroduction of cheetahs in India is part of a long series of measures for ensuring sustainability and environment protection in the last eight years which has resulted in significant achievements in the area of environment protection and sustainability.

The coverage of Protected Areas which was 4.90% of the country’s geographical area in 2014 has now increased to 5.03%. This includes an increase in Protected Areas in the country from 740 with an area of 1,61,081.62 sq.kms. in 2014 to present 981 with an area of 1,71,921 sq.kms.

Forest and tree cover has increased by 16,000 square kms in the last four years. India is among the few countries in the world where forest cover has been increasing consistently.

There has also been an increase in the number of community reserves. From just 43 in 2014 the numbers have risen to more than 100 in 2019.

India is home to 52 Tiger Reserves covering approximately 75,000 Sq Km area in 18 States with approximately 75% population of the wild tiger at global level. India achieved the goal of doubling the tiger numbers in 2018 – four years in advance from the targeted year of 2022.  The Tiger Population in India has increased from 2,226 in 2014 to 2,967 in 2018.

The budgetary allocation for tiger conservation has increased from Rs 185 crore in 2014 to Rs 300 crore in 2022.

The population of Asiatic Lions has shown a steady increase with a population of 674 individuals with an increase rate of 28.87 per cent (one of the highest growth rates so far) from the 523 lions in 2015.

India now (2020) has 12,852 leopards as compared to the previous estimate of 7910 conducted in 2014. More than 60% increase in population has been recorded.