Bhopal, Aug 13 (PTI) Cheetahs are unlikely to arrive in India in August as a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with South Africa to import the animals from that country has not been signed yet, an official said here on Saturday.
The spotted animal, which went extinct in India 70 years ago, is going to be reintroduced in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno-Palpur National Park (KNP).
Cheetahs, known as the fastest mammals, would be sourced from South Africa and Namibia.
Earlier, some media reports had claimed that the government was planning to bring the cheetahs to India before Independence Day.
An MoU was inked with Namibia last month, but the animals which were to be airlifted from that country have not yet completed their mandatory quarantine there, said the official who is associated with the project.
The MoU with South Africa, meanwhile, is awaiting the consent of that country’s President, he said.
Asked whether the South African government had any issues about signing the MoU, the official said such procedures take time.
While the cheetahs to be brought to India from South Africa have completed one-month quarantine, the ones to be airlifted from Namibia have not completed quarantine yet, the official said.
They will complete the quarantine period by August-end or early September, he added.
As per the Indian wildlife law, a month’s quarantine is mandatory before importing animals, and they are required to be kept in isolation for another month after arrival in the country, the official said.
“We are planning to lift the cheetahs from SA and Namibia together. It will be economical,” he added.
According to officials, India was also looking to buy some cheetahs from private game reserves in South Africa for USD 3,000 to 4,000 per animal, besides sourcing them from the local government.
Wildlife Institute of India (WII) Dean Yadvendradev Vikramsinh Jhala who landed in Johannesburg on August 6 in connection with the reintroduction project will be back in India in a day or two, officials said, suggesting that import of the animals has been delayed.
The KNP is spread over 750 square kilometres in Madhya Pradesh’s Chambal region.
The last cheetah in India died in 1947 in the Korea district in present-day Chhattisgarh (then part of MP), and the species was declared extinct in 1952. PTI LAL KRK KRK
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