Bhopal: A senior forest department official said on Tuesday that cheetahs arriving by air from Namibia to Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno-Palpur National Park this weekend will have to spend their entire journey on an empty stomach.
Madhya Pradesh’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) JS Chauhan told PTI that eight cheetahs would be brought from Namibia in Africa to Jaipur in Rajasthan on September 17 by a cargo plane under the Inter-Continental Transfer Project. It will be taken to Kuno-Palpur National Park located in the Sheopur district by helicopter.
“No food will be given to the cheetahs during their journey from Namibia to Jaipur and then from there to the national park. After taking off from Namibia, the cheetahs will be fed food at the Kuno-Palpur National Park.
Chouhan said that as a precaution, it is mandatory that the stomach of an animal should be empty while starting the journey. Said Chouhan said that such precautions are needed as long journeys can lead to the problem of nausea in the animals, which can lead to other complications.
When asked about the travel time between Namibia and Jaipur, the forest official said that he has no information in this regard, but a cargo plane carrying cheetahs will land at Jaipur airport on September 17 between 6 am and 7 am.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release three of these cheetahs on the same day on the occasion of his birthday in a special enclosure built in this park under the Cheetah Replacement Project. Cheetahs were declared extinct from India in 1952.
