India is planning to bring more than 100 cheetahs from South Africa in an attempt to repopulate the big cat in the country. According to reports, the Indian government has reached a deal with South African authorities to transfer more cheetahs.
As of now, the agreement has been signed with South Africa to translocate 12 cheetahs to the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, a senior official in the Union Environment Ministry said on Friday.
The pact was signed last week and seven male and five female cheetahs are expected to reach Kuno by February 15, the official said.
The 12 South African cheetahs have been in quarantine for more than six months and were expected to reach Kuno this month but the transfer was delayed as "some processes in South Africa took some time", the official said on condition of anonymity.
Cheetah is the only large carnivore that got completely wiped out from India due to over-hunting and habitat loss.
The last cheetah died in Koriya district of present-day Chhattisgarh in 1947 and the species was declared extinct in 1952.
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