PM Modi releases Namibian cheetahs at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17 released cheetahs flown in from Namibia into special enclosure in Kuno National Park of Madhya Pradesh, as part of the programme to reintroduce the feline in India seven decades after it was declared extinct in the country.

“Project Cheetah, under which the cheetahs were reintroduced in the country after they became extinct seven decades ago, is our endeavour towards environment and wildlife conservation,” Mr. Modi said.

“Decades ago, the age-old link of biodiversity that was broken, had become extinct, today we have a chance to reconnect it,” the Prime Minister said in a recorded address. “Today the cheetah has returned to the soil of India,” he added.

“I would also say that along with these cheetahs, the nature loving consciousness of India has also awakened with full force,” Mr. Modi said, adding that when cheetahs run again in Kuno National Park, the grassland ecosystem will be restored, biodiversity will increase further.

Stating that even though cheetahs had become extinct from India in 1952, no meaningful effort was made to rehabilitate them for the past seven decades. He further said that in the Azadi Ka Amit Mahotsav, the country has started to rehabilitate cheetahs with new energy. “Amrit has the power to revive even the dead”, Mr. Modi remarked.

Mr. Modi also asked the countrymen to wait for a few months to see the cheetahs released in the Kuno National Park. “Today these cheetahs have come as guests, unaware of this area. For these cheetahs to be able to make Kuno National Park their home, we will have to give them a few months’ time,” he said.

The Prime Minister assured that international guidelines are being followed and India is trying its best to settle these cheetahs. “We must not allow our efforts to fail”, he said.

“For India, nature and environment, its animals and birds, are not just about sustainability and security but the basis of India’s sensibility and spirituality”, Mr. Modi said. “We are taught to care about even the smallest creatures living around us. Our traditions are such that if the life of a living being goes away without any reason, then we are filled with guilt. Then how can we accept that the existence of an entire species is lost because of us?”, he added.

Pointing out that cheetahs are found in some countries of Africa, and in Iran, however, India’s name was removed from that list long ago, he said, “Children will not have to go through this irony in the years to come. I am sure, they will be able to see the cheetah running in their own country, in Kuno National Park. Today a big void in our forest and life is being filled through the cheetah.”

“I also thank our friendly country Namibia and the government there, with whose cooperation the cheetahs have returned to Indian soil after decades,”prime minister said

Two helicopters carrying eight cheetahs reached Palpur near Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, following their arrival in Gwalior from Namibia in a special plane, where they were received by Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.

The cheetahs were brought in a special flight of Terra Avia, an airline based at Chisinau, Moldova in Europe that operates chartered passenger and cargo flights. (Hindu)