Panel wants Kuno cheetahs to undergo medical review

Subject : Environment

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Following the deaths of two cheetahs over the last week, the expert advisory committee overseeing the implementation of Project Cheetah has recommended that all the animals undergo a thorough, physical medical review.
This will involve recalling even the animals which have been released into the wild and investigating if the radio-collars dangling from their necks may be indirectly abetting infections.
Looking ahead, a Cheetah Research Centre — with facilities for rescue and rehabilitation as well — will be established.
Other measures on the cards include bringing additional forest area under the administrative control of Kuno National Park; adding additional frontline forces; and establishing a second home for the animal in the Gandhi Sagar sanctuary, the Ministry statement noted.

Cheetah Reintroduction Project

The cheetah reintroduction project is the world’s first inter-continental cheetah translocation project.
Totally 20 Cheetahs are scheduled to arrive in
The main goal of the cheetah programme is to establish a viable cheetah metapopulation in India that allows the cheetah to perform its functional role as a top predator and provides space for the expansion of the cheetah within its historical range, thereby contributing to its global conservation effort.

Kuno National Park

Situated between the Aravallis and the Madhav National Park, Kuno serves as an important wildlife corridor
It was notified as a sanctuary in 1981 and then upgraded to a national park in 2018.
Spread over 750 kilometres of pristine wilderness, it is rich in floral diversity with more than 120 species of trees.
The tropical dry deciduous forest mainly consists of Anogeissus pendula (Kardhai), Senegalia catechu (Khair) Boswellia serrata (Salai) and associated flora.

Why Kuno Palpur NP ?

There is no dearth of water in Kuno and there is abundant prey.
Kuno also has ample natural habitat for the cheetah in the form of grasslands, savannah, and open woodland with evergreen riverine ravines.
Sheopur district, where Kuno is located, has rainfall levels, temperatures, altitude and conditions similar to that of South Africa and Namibia.