MP: Cheetah Oban that strayed out of Kuno National Park rescued, brought back

A male cheetah that had strayed out of the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur and was spotted at an agricultural field adjoining a village a few days back, was rescued from a forest area in neighbouring Shivpuri district and released into the park again, a forest official said on Friday.

Oban, one of the eight cheetahs brought from Namibia in September last year, had strayed out of the KNP on April 2 and the feline was rescued on Thursday evening, he said.

"After moving out of the KNP, Oban was wandering in nearby areas. On Wednesday, the feline reached the Bairad area in Shivpuri district via Vijaypur's Jhad Badora and Parvati Badoda areas and also hunted a blackbuck as he was hungry," divisional forest officer (DFO) P K Verma said.

After getting information that Oban is in the Bairad area, the cheetah monitoring team decided to rescue the animal. The team finally caught him around 5 pm on Thursday, he said.

After being rescued, Oban was brought back to the KNP and released into the Palpur forest area, the official said.