Eight cheetahs have been captured in Botswana ahead of their planned translocation to India as part of the country’s cheetah reintroduction programme, a senior forest official said on Friday. The initiative, launched in 2022, aims to restore the world’s fastest land animal to India decades after it went extinct in the wild.

The group includes two males, the official said, adding that the cheetahs will remain in quarantine for about a month and undergo medical examinations before being flown to India.

“Inter-continental translocation involves several formalities. Considering these and the upcoming Christmas holidays, I can’t say when the cheetahs will be flown to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district — most probably in January,” the official told PTI, requesting anonymity.

Cheetah Project field director Uttam Sharma said he could not comment on the timeline, as the process was being handled by both governments. “We already have enclosures and facilities ready for the third batch of cheetahs, which were prepared when the animals were earlier brought from Namibia and South Africa,” he said.

Meanwhile, a five-member South African delegation visited the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary (GSWS), on the border of Mandsaur and Neemuch districts, following a field visit to Kuno National Park on Thursday. The team spent Friday at GSWS before returning to New Delhi to fly back to South Africa, said Mandsaur Divisional Forest Officer Sanjay Raykhere.

The delegation “appreciated the efforts of the Central and Madhya Pradesh governments and Kuno management in cheetah conservation under Project Cheetah,” Sharma added.

The delegation comprised Anthony Mitchell, head of office and cabinet liaison for Deputy Minister Narend Singh; Kam Chetty, retired bureaucrat; Sam Ferreira, SANParks lead biologist; Brent Coverdale, animal scientist at Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife; and Jeanetta Selier, senior scientist at the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI).

They were accompanied by Indian counterparts S P Yadav, managing director of the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) and advisor to Project Cheetah; Subharanjan Sen, principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) of Madhya Pradesh; and Sanjayan Kumar, inspector general, NTCA, Sharma added.

On September 17, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released eight cheetahs brought from Namibia into a special enclosure at Kuno National Park, marking the world's first intercontinental relocation of a large wild carnivore species. India later imported 12 more cheetahs from South Africa in February 2023.

Three years into the ambitious revival programme, the country now has 27 cheetahs, including 16 born on Indian soil. Of them, 24 are at Kuno and three are at GSWS.

Nineteen cheetahs- nine imported adults and 10 cubs born in India-have died from various causes since the project began, while 26 cubs have been born in Kuno so far. After importing 20 animals from Africa, India currently has a net gain of seven cheetahs over the initial number.