Cheetahs in Kuno National Park: Oban, the male Namibian cheetah, who escaped from Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park and was spotted at an agricultural field, has been brought back and released in the park, a forest official said on Friday. The Namibian cheetah was rescued from a forest area in neighbouring Shivpuri district on Thursday evening.
Oban, one of the eight cheetahs brought from Namibia in September last year, had strayed out into an agricultural field adjoining a village near Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district on April 2.
"After moving out of the KNP, Oban was wandering in nearby areas. On Wednesday, the feline reached the Bairad area in Shivpuri district via Vijaypur's Jhad Badora and Parvati Badoda areas and also hunted a blackbuck as he was hungry," divisional forest officer (DFO) P K Verma said.
Oban brought back to Kuno National Park
After getting information that Oban is in the Bairad area, the cheetah monitoring team decided to rescue the animal and they caught him around 5 pm on Thursday, he said. The official further said that after being rescued, Oban was brought back to the KNP and released into the Palpur forest area. Verma, however, did not share details of the rescue operation, including whether the animal was tranquilised.
On the reports that a female cheetah - Asha - also moving out of the forest area, the DFO said she was wandering in the KNP's reserve area and the monitoring team is keeping an eye on her movements.
Also Read: Good news! Cheetah brought from Namibia gives birth to 4 cubs at Kuno National Park
Eight cheetahs brought from Namibia
So far, four out of the eight cheetahs brought from Namibia to the KNP in September, 2022, have been released into the wild (free range area) from enclosures. Oban and Asha were released into the wild on March 11, almost six months after they were brought to the KNP, while Elton and Freddie, popularly known as "Rockstars", were released into park's free-range area on March 22.
The eight Namibian cheetahs - five females and three males - were brought to the KNP as part of the cheetah reintroduction programme aimed at reviving the species' population in India, where they became extinct more than 70 years ago.
The eight Namibian cheetahs, comprising five females and three males, were brought to the KNP as part of an ambitious reintroduction programme of the species and were released into special enclosures on September 17, 2022 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. One of them, Sasha, died of a kidney ailment on March 27, while another, Siyaya, gave birth to four cubs.
Another set of 12 cheetahs, comprising seven males and five females, were brought to the KNP from South Africa on February 18 this year.
(With PTI inputs)
