Cheetahs make their first kill after being freed from quarantine at Kuno

Within no time of their release from the quarantine to a bigger acclimatization enclosure on Saturday evening, the two male cheetahs at Madhya Pradesh Kuno National Park are reported to have made their first kill. They are said to have hunted cheetal or spotted deer on Sunday night or today morning.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter and shared a video of their release.

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The two cheetahs released are brothers – Freddie and Elton – are part of the eight obtained by India from the African nation Namibia under Project Cheetah. The aim of this ambitious project is to reintroduce cheetahs which went extinct here in 1952.

Earlier talking to India Narrative, Prakash Kumar Verma, Divisional Forest Officer, KNP had informed that the two brothers were still on the diet of buffalo meat. “Now that they have a bigger enclosure and more space to explore, they will have access to a prey base that includes cheetal, sambar and wild boars to hunt.”

Talking about the 8 big cats, the DFO told India Narrative that “they were all faring well”. About the brothers in particular, he said: “In the last two days, the behaviour of the two has been satisfactory and they have been eating well.”

The brothers as per Verma “bond very well”. Interestingly, male cubs from the same litter live together for life and partner in hunting.

The DFO also informed India Narrative that by moving the two to a bigger enclosure, the aim is to “further acclimatize them with the surroundings and environment while also observing how they behave and react in human presence.” This he said was an essential step before they are released in the wild later.

While moving them to the next level, the 24×7 observation continues with Bart Balli, the expert from Cheetah Conservation Fund – the organization which has overseen the transfer of these animals to India – monitoring them along with veterinarians, members of the Wildlife Institute of India, and forest officials of the KNP. Besides, the members of the Cheetah Task Force constituted by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change also regularly visit the felines and get feedback from those on the ground.

The acclimatization enclosure is spread over 500 hectares and is sub-divided into 8 smaller enclosures.

Also read: African Cheetahs in India doing well, enjoying buffalo meat