India to welcome 12 cheetahs from South Africa next month in reintroduction of Cheetah campaign

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Bhavna Choudhary
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As part of the reintroduce of the cheetah's program India will receive 12 cheetahs from South Africa next month, the central government confirmed on Friday that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the two countries.

A second group of 12 cheetahs — seven male and five female — will be moved from South Africa to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. They will join eight others it received from Namibia in September as part of an ambitious plan to reintroduce the cats in the country after 70 years.

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In the majority of countries, cheetah numbers are falling. The exception is South Africa, where there is not enough room for cats. Based on an agreement between the two African nations, India wants to transport an additional 12 every year for the following eight to ten years, the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change of India said on Friday.

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According to a statement from the ministry, the National Biodiversity Institute, National Parks, Cheetah Range Expansion Project, and the Endangered Wildlife Trust of South Africa will work together with their Indian counterparts.

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Cheetahs were originally widely distributed in India, but because of hunting and habitat destruction, they were extinct by 1952. India hopes that bringing in African cheetahs will help with conservation efforts for the country's vulnerable and generally uncared-for grasslands.

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In the wild presently there are fewer than 7,000 cheetahs that are adults, and they no longer cover more than 9% of their former territory. A major issue is a shrinking habitat caused by the growing human population and climate change.

Eight cheetahs that had been transported by air from Namibia in September were released in central India's vast Kuno National Park.

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