Project Cheetah: PM Narendra Modi to release Namibia cheetahs in MP's Kuno National Park on his 72nd birthday on Saturday – 10 things to know!

Project Cheetah: Even as the countdown for the arrival of Cheetahs in India has begun, ‘Project Cheetah’ is a never before attempt done by any country in the world. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release cheetahs brought from Namibia in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park on Saturday. The release coincides with PM Modi’s 72nd birthday.

 What is so special about this project? Here are some interesting things to know about it.

1) The introduction of cheetah in India is being done under Project Cheetah, which is world's first inter-continental large wild carnivore translocation project.

2) Officials in Madhya Pradesh forest department told IANS that the aircraft with the eight cheetahs, including five females and three males (among them two male siblings) will land in Jaipur on Friday.

3) Cheetah was declared extinct in India in 1952. The cheetahs that would be released are from Namibia and have been brought under an MoU signed earlier this year.

4) Project Cheetah is part of PM’s efforts to revitalise and diversify the country's wildlife and habitat, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.

5) PM Modi will visit Madhya Pradesh on September 17 and at around 10:45 am and will release cheetahs in Kuno National Park, the statement by PMO said.

6) A special Jumbo Jet Boeing 747 plane, having all arrangements for specially housing eight cheetahs for 16 hours journey to Rajasthan capital Jaipur, landed in Namibia capital Windhoek on Thursday.

7) Thereafter, the fastest moving animals will be flown from Jaipur to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday morning, three to four hours before the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to arrive in Sheopur district for the memorable birthday.

8) "A 10-feet high platform has been put up for the PM at Kuno National Park. Cheetahs will be housed in a six-foot cage below that platform. The PM will turn a lever to open the sliding gates of the cage and release the cheetahs in the enclosure created for them," officials privy with the project said.

9) After releasing the cheetahs, PM Modi will address `Cheetah Mitras` (friends of cheetahs surrounding villages). These Cheetah Mitras have been tasked with educating people living in some 45 villages near the national park, about how to handle the big cats, should any stray into their neighbourhood.

10) The cheetahs will be quarantined in a special enclosure for a month after being released in the Kuno National Park. Once the mandatory isolation is over, they will be moved to a larger enclosure for around three months, before being freed in the jungles of the 748 square km Park.

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

This effort, in line with the prime minister's commitment towards environment protection and wildlife. conservation, will also lead to enhanced livelihood opportunities for the local community through eco-development and eco-tourism activities, the statement said.

Inputs from PTI and IANS