India is set to receive four cheetahs from Kenya later this year as part of an ongoing wildlife translocation and conservation programme.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

According to a report from The Times of India on May 21, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) approved the transfer after a visit to Gujarat’s Banni grasslands in March.

Authorities confirmed that the four cheetahs, comprising two male-female pairs, are expected to be relocated to the Banni conservation facility in Kutch, where they will join counterparts from Botswana as part of the project’s breed-mixing plan.

The conservation centre spans about 500 hectares and is India’s first dedicated cheetah breeding and acclimatisation facility designed to replicate Kenya’s savannah habitat.

📌 What You Need to Know

Officials said strong chain-link fencing has been installed around Banni’s approximately 9,830-metre boundary to safeguard the cheetahs from escapes and encounters with other large carnivores.

Before moving to Banni, the Kenyan cheetahs will first undergo quarantine at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, where a holding facility has already been developed.

The move is under India’s broader Project Cheetah initiative , aimed at reintroducing cheetahs to the country after they were declared extinct locally in the 1950s.

Last year, discussions between the governments had initially aimed to translocate eight to ten cheetahs from Kenya by 2026.

Kenya is among three African countries collaborating with India on the translocation, alongside Botswana and Namibia. Indian authorities revealed that up to 12 cheetahs are expected to be brought to Banni within a year.

Authorities added that once the cheetahs breed successfully at Banni, there may be plans to release them into free-range areas in Kutch as decided by the NTCA.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke