Cheetah Jwala Rescued After Roaming 100 km Into Rajasthan

Sheopur (MP), Aug 13 (PTI): A female cheetah named Jwala, which had been freely roaming, recently wandered from Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park into neighboring Rajasthan, approximately 100 kilometers away. The animal was successfully rescued, as confirmed by officials on Wednesday.

The cheetah crossed the state boundary into a human-populated area during the daytime on Monday, according to a Cheetah Project official.

For the safety of both the cheetah and the local populace, the decision was made to rescue the animal, the official stated.

"On August 12, the female cheetah Jwala was rescued from Kareera Kalan village in Sawaimadhopur district of Rajasthan. The rescue occurred in challenging conditions, with a large crowd present. The cornered animal was finally rescued after being darted," said the official.

During the operation, the cheetah monitoring team had to manage the situation physically by using a goat, which the cheetah had killed, to entice the animal into an enclosure to prevent potential conflicts, noted the official.

Following the successful operation, the cheetah was returned to Kuno National Park (KNP), the official stated.

The KNP management expressed gratitude to Rajasthan's police and forest department for their support during the rescue operation.

As of now, KNP houses 26 cheetahs: 9 adults (6 females and 3 males) and 17 cubs born in India. All are reported to be healthy and thriving, as stated by an official earlier.

Of the 26 cheetahs, 16 are freely roaming the wild and have adapted well to the park's environment. They have learned to coexist with co-predators and are regularly hunting, the official added.

Additionally, two male cheetahs relocated to the Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary from KNP are also reported to be doing well.

Previously, on September 17, 2022, eight cheetahs from Namibia comprising five females and three males were released into Kuno National Park. This marked the first-ever intercontinental translocation of cheetahs, as part of efforts to reintroduce them in India.

Furthermore, twelve more cheetahs were transferred from South Africa to Kuno in February 2023.

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