It is this old connection that prompted Sikarwar, now 72, to come forward as a “cheetah mitra” at the national park. “The Kuno forest gave us shelter, protected us. In July, when we had started these campaigns, we had asked for volunteers to become cheetah mitras. At night we would sleep in the forest —most often we would sleep in what is now called the Kuno National Park,” he says. He says: “I have already told people that they will not enter Kuno National Park and no one is to attack the Cheetahs.

Source: Indian Express September 26, 2022 12:09 UTC