India: 12 Cheetahs Flown In From South Africa As Part Of Effort To Revive Species

• The feline predators from South Africa were flown in on Saturday from Johannesburg

• The Cheetahs will be released in their final destination, the Kuno National Park

• Cheetahs were declared extinct in India in 1952

Eko Hot Blog reports that Twelve cheetahs have arrived in India as part of efforts to revive the species after decades of extinction in the country.

EDITOR’S PICKS 

• JUST IN: Supreme Court Adjourns Lawsuit Against FG On Old Naira Notes

• Naira Swap Crisis: Again, Buhari Meets Emefiele At Aso Rock

• BREAKING: 3 Govs Drag FG, CBN To Court Over Naira Scarcity

The feline predators from South Africa were flown in on Saturday from Johannesburg, the Indian Air Force announced.

The cheetahs will next be airlifted in helicopters from the India Air Force, and be released in their final destination, the Kuno National Park, in central Madhya Pradesh state. They will join eight cheetahs relocated from Namibia in September last year.

The cheetahs are part of an initiative by India and South Africa to reintroduce the cheetah in India, according to a joint statement from India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, South Africa.

The initiative would “expand the cheetah meta-population and reintroduce cheetahs to a former range state following their local extinction due to overhunting and loss of habitat in the last century,” the statement said.

Cheetahs were declared extinct in India in 1952, it added.

The 12 cheetahs are all “wild-born,” according to the statement, and familiar with their natural predators. Other big cats and eagles are known to prey on cheetahs.

In January, South Africa’s environmental department said there was a plan to further relocate 12 cheetahs annually for the next “eight to 10 years.”

Cheetahs are found in southern and eastern Africa, particularly in Namibia, Botswana, Kenya, and Tanzania, with less than 7,000 left in the wild, according to the World Wide Fund (WWF).

FURTHER READING

• Naira Redesign: El-Rufai, Yahaya Bello Storm S’Court For Proceedings In Suit Against FG

• Naira Crisis: Wike, Tambuwal, Sanwo-Olu Join Legal Battle Against Buhari, CBN

• ‘Cooked Up’ — Tinubu Reacts As Another Poll Predicts Obi’s Victory In 2023 Election

But the animals used to live much more widely. Historically, cheetahs roamed throughout the Middle East and central India as well as most of sub-Saharan Africa. Habitat loss, poaching, and conflict with humans have greatly reduced their populations.

Source: CNN

Click here to watch our video of the week:

---

Advertise or Publish a Story on EkoHot Blog:

Kindly contact us at [email protected]. Breaking stories should be sent to the above email and substantiated with pictorial evidence.

Citizen journalists will receive a token as data incentive.

Call or Whatsapp: 0803 561 7233, 0703 414 5611