Cheetahs in India from Namibia on PM Modi birthday: FULL SCHEDULE - Release of 8 big cats in MP's Kuno National Park

Cheetahs in India from Namibia on PM Modi birthday: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release cheetahs being brought from Namibia in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP) on Saturday morning. PM Modi will be in Madhya Pradesh on his birthday to release wild Cheetahs in Kuno National Park. Here is FULL SCHEDULE of PM Modi:-

- The special cargo plane carrying eight cheetahs from Namibia will land at the Gwalior airport in Madhya Pradesh at around 6 am on September 17, which is also Modi's birthday, said a senior police officail.

- PM Modi will arrive at the Gwalior airport from New Delhi at around 9.20 am and leave for Kuno National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district, about 165km away, 

- He will release cheetahs into quarantine enclosures at around 10.45 am

-  The felines will be then shifted to KNP in a helicopter.

A special bird touches down in the Land of the Brave to carry goodwill ambassadors to the Land of the Tiger.#AmritMahotsav #IndiaNamibia pic.twitter.com/vmV0ffBncO

— India In Namibia (@IndiainNamibia) September 14, 2022

As per the earlier plan, the special plane carrying the big cats from the African country was to land at the Jaipur airport, from where they were to be flown to KNP, around 400km from the Rajasthan capital.

The release of wild cheetahs by the prime minister in KNP is part of his efforts to revitalise and diversify India's wildlife and its habitat, said a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Thursday.

The introduction of the fastest land animal in India is being done under Project Cheetah, which is world's first inter-continental large wild carnivore translocation project, the statement said.

Talking to PTI on Friday, principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF) wildlife, J S Chauhan, said, "The cheetahs will arrive in Gwalior and from there they will be flown in a special helicopter to KNP." 

High Commission of India in Windhoek, Namibia tweets the visual of the Indian aircraft which has reached Namibia to receive cheetahs to be brought to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park. PM Narendra Modi will be present in the park on Sept 17 for the reintroduction. pic.twitter.com/jl3Rk4bigS

— ANI (@ANI) September 15, 2022

8 Cheetahs

The eight cheetahs - five females and three males - will be brought from Namibia's capital Windhoek to the Gwalior airport in a customised Boeing 747-400 aircraft, officials have said earlier. 

Chauhan said from Gwalior, the cheetahs will be shifted to the KNP helipad in an IAF Chinook heavy-lift helicopter. According to the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), an international not-for-profit organisation headquartered in Namibia and dedicated to saving the fastest land animal, the five female cheetahs bound for India are aged between two and five years, while the males are aged between 4.5 years and 5.5 years. 

#WATCH | First look of Cheetahs that will be brought from Namibia to India on 17th September at KUNO National Park, in Madhya Pradesh pic.twitter.com/HOjexYWtE6

— ANI (@ANI) September 16, 2022

The Last Cheetah

The last cheetah in India died in 1947 in Korea district in present-day Chhattisgarh, which was earlier part of Madhya Pradesh, and the species was declared extinct from India in 1952. The 'African Cheetah Introduction Project in India' was conceived in 2009 and a plan to introduce the big cat by November last year in KNP was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials have said.

Cheetahs will help in the restoration of open forest and grassland ecosystems in India. This will help conserve biodiversity and enhance ecosystem services like water security, carbon sequestration and soil moisture conservation, benefiting the society at large, it said.

After releasing cheetahs, Modi will take part in a plantation programme at Karahal in Sheopur district and later arrive in a local school to participate in a conference of women self-help groups (SHGs), said officials.

After the SHG programme, the PM will arrive in Gwalior and after a brief stay in the city, leave for New Delhi in the afternoon, they said.

(With PTI inputs)