A sub-adult tiger from Rajasthan crossed over and entered Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park (KNP) where cheetahs from Africa were introduced aiming to revive and bolster their population in the country, an official said who denied them having any threat from the new entrants. The official said that the cheetahs have been kept in soft enclosures or ‘bomas’ in the park.
“Tiger pugmarks were found inside the KNP two to three days back,” KNP director Uttam Sharma said.
The tiger, around three years old, forayed into the protected forest from Rajasthan’s Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, which was about 100 km from KNP, officials said.
Cheetahs in Kuno
At present, KNP has seven male and as many female cheetahs and a cub. Officials said leopards too are scared of tigers and are very watchful of them. They said that the KNP has a high density of leopards.
According to the officials, the average weight of a male tiger animal is about 200 kg, while that of a male cheetah is between 55 and 60 kg.
Under the cheetah reintroduction project, eight Namibian cheetahs, comprising five females and three males, were released into enclosures at KNP on September 17 last year. 12 more cheetahs arrived at the Park from South Africa in February this year.
Later, four cubs were born in the park, raising the number of the felines to 24.
Since March, nine cheetahs, including three cubs, have died, while 14 cheetahs and one cub are in healthy condition, officials earlier said. Cheetahs were declared extinct in India in 1952.
(With PTI inputs)
