A cargo plane will arrive with eight cheetahs on PM Modi's birthday, along with an army of doctors and experts.

The cheetahs will land in Gwalior on the morning of September 17, after which they will be taken by helicopter to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.

Once again the wild animal cheetah is being brought back to India. Cheetahs became extinct in India about seventy years ago. The Government of India has taken initiatives for the restoration of the Cheetah. Now they are being brought to India by special charter aircraft from Namibia.

Importantly, Chitani's flight will land in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh tomorrow. The plane was earlier planned to land in Jaipur, Rajasthan, but due to logistical problems, it has been decided to land in Gwalior. The cheetahs will land in Gwalior on the morning of September 17, after which they will be taken by helicopter to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. Eight cheetahs, including five females and three males, are being brought to India from Namibia.

According to the sources, the distance from Gwalior to Kuno National Park is less as compared to Jaipur. This decision has been taken so that the leopards can be shifted to the National Park in a short time. The leopards will be flown from Gwalior to Kuno National Park by three separate helicopters . It is being said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be involved in the program to shift the leopards to the National Park. PM Modi's birthday is also tomorrow.  

Cheetahs will be returned by a special plane

Importantly, the plane through which the cheetahs are being brought to India is specially designed. The face of the plane is shaped like a leopard. These cheetahs are being brought to India with the help of the Namibian NGO Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF). Talks on the project first began in 2009. In 2020, the Supreme Court approved a project to bring cheetahs from Namibia to India. A budget of Rs.91 crore has been fixed for the entire project. This will be the first time a carnivore has been transported from one continent to another.

It is to be noted that the Ministry of Wildlife and Environment of India is preparing to bring 12 leopards from South Africa apart from Namibia. Talks with South Africa are said to be in final stages. A team from South Africa has also visited India to review the preparations. According to wildlife experts, the number of cheetahs needed to settle in India is 35 to 45, so about 8 cheetahs will be brought to India every year for five years.