Kuno National Park releases 2 more African cheetahs from quarantine after last leopard exits

The African cheetahs in Kuno National Park of Madhya Pradesh are slowly settling in. Authorities released two more cheetahs into the larger enclosure on Sunday, November 27. Both the cheetahs are females - Asha and Tbilisi. 

The two cheetahs will have to hunt for themselves. Now, there are a total of five cheetahs in the larger enclosure now - three males and two females. A third male cheetah, Obaan, was released on November 18. 

Those in the larger enclosure:

• Elton
• Freddie
• Obaan
• Asha 
• Tbilisi

There are three more cheetahs that have not been released from their quarantine and all three of them are females. 

• The release of Asha and Tbilisi coincided with one of the last leopards in the special enclosure leaving the area. There were six leopards that had entered the cheetah acclimatisation enclosures before the wild cats arrived in Madhya Pradesh. 
• Authorities had managed to flush out five leopards out of the enclosures, but the last female leopard proved to be too stubborn. Cameras placed in the enclosure confirmed that the sixth and the last leopard had left the enclosure. 
• Leopards pose a challenge to newly inducted cheetahs at Kuno Palpur National Park in Madhya Pradesh as they are their natural competitors for prey. For the acclimatisation period, authorities need to ensure the African cheetahs don't have to compete for food with native leopards. 
• The special enclosures will be removed in time, once the cheetahs brought from Namibia are able to fully adapt to the Indian soil. 

India brought eight African cheetahs from Namibia on September 17, 2022, as part of the Cheetah Reintroduction program. India used to be home to Asiatic cheetahs, but they were hunted to extinction in the early 1950s.