From here, the big cats were flown in helicopters to large quarantine enclosures in Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. This was part of the controversial multi-crore Project Cheetah, flagged off in 2022 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi (on his birthday, September 17). Rising numbersBut scientists said the project should immediately stop further imports of wild African cheetahs because of the abysmal lack of habitat and prey and other socio-economic reasons. Not rosyNitin Rai, an independent researcher, concurred: it is time for Project Cheetah to end, he told The Hindu. Jhala, former dean of the Wildlife Institute of India and designer of the cheetah project, says he is optimistic about seeing cheetahs breed and have their numbers increase.

Source: The Hindu March 10, 2026 08:06 UTC