NEW DELHI: The eight cheetahs will be moved to a new enclosure, larger than their current extended quarantine bomas at the Kuno National Park (KNP), any day after November 7, a senior member of the Cheetah Task Force (CTF) told this newspaper on Monday.
“This decision was taken at the CTF’s meeting held at KNP on October 27. The panel members took stock of the situation and the prevailing conditions in the new enclosures,” Madhya Pradesh Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden J C Chauhan said.
While an “entire timeline” for moving the cheetahs to nine separate enclosures within a “predator proof” 6-sq-km fenced zone within KNP was discussed at the CTF meeting, which the Namibian and South African experts attended as “special invitees”, a detailed report on the availability of prey base and water availability was also considered.
The “soft release” of the felines, which was earlier scheduled for October 17, was delayed as the Namibian and South African cheetah experts had advised several health tests which are in the process of being completed.
Chauhan said that the CTF meeting threw up a number of “new suggestions”, including additional power lines that would help keep the “internal fencing” of the new enclosures electrified. The cheetahs will remain in the KNP’s new, larger zone for at least three to four months before they are allowed to move to the “free ranging” area.
Even as the cheetahs continue to be fed dressed buffalo meat, the experts do expect this to adversely affect their hunting abilities. In their new enclosure, the cheetahs will be able to hunt on their own as this zone, according to Chauhan, has “sufficient prey base”.
The animals do not face any immediate threat from other predators such as leopards, 25 of which were removed from the 6-sq-km enclosure after being radio-collared by forest officials before the cheetahs were released into quarantine on September 17.
According to WII’s Action Plan for Introduction of the Cheetah, the three radio-collared males would be released first from the“holding enclosure”. This will be followed by the release of the five females. The males and females would be kept in “separate but adjoining compartments so that they are able to know each other” before their final release into KNP’s wilds spread over 742 sq km.
The source said that holding back the cheetahs in their quarantine bomas before their “soft release” was based on the advice of experts from the Namibian Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) who had accompanied the animals on their transcontinental flight to India. CCF experts are also monitoring “every aspect” of the cheetahs.