Madhya Pradesh: Aasha Keeps Alive India's Cheetah Project

Bhopal: As India’s cheetah introduction project, the first of its kind in the world, enters its second year next week, conservationists have found hope in ‘Aasha’, the Namibian female feline, in the success of the ambitious plan.

Aasha was one among the eight cheetahs that were brought to Kuno National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district in Madhya Pradesh on September 17 last year in the first ever intercontinental translocation of carnivores, under the project.

Amid apprehensions raised by a section of conservationists over the viability of the project in the wake of death of nine cheetahs including three cubs in a span of three months in KNP, ‘Aasha’ has given a ray of hope for its success by exhibiting her ‘amazing’ skill of adaptation to the new landscape and the environment.

“Aasha’s journey, thus far, in her new habitat is very exciting and adventurous, typical of a wild cheetah”, a forest officer posted in KNP told this newspaper on Monday.

KNP authorities have published a ‘News Letter’, titled ‘Aasha- The wanderer’, detailing how the five-year-old cheetah has explored Kuno landscape and successfully adopted the landscape geography and hot summer in her new habitat, besides hunting Indian preys.

“Aasha has carried herself in such a manner in the last one year that gives lots of hope for the successful introduction and establishment of cheetahs in India”, the news letter said.

After spending 70 days in quarantine ‘boma’ or enclosure, Aasha was put in soft release boma, a pre-wild release arrangement, for around 100 days before being released in the wild on March 11, 2023.

Her exploration instinct has amazed the forest officers of the KNP.

According to a member of the monitoring team, Aasha moved a little for the initial 15 days after being released in the wild and remained close to the enclosure site in the park.

Then she started exploring the park and outside.

She first covered the northern part of the park, moving close to the Sheopur forest division boundary and then retreated.

She then ventured into the eastern part of the park.

She explored Sheopur, Shivpuri and Ashok Nagar districts, by travelling more than 200 km away from KNP boundary and remained safe and sound.

The cheetah hunted four-horned antelopes and also black buck, an Indian prey, not found in her place of birth in Namibia, during her exploration, indicating that she has adapted to the Indian preys, the forest officer said.

Twelve cheetahs were also translocated to Kuno from South Africa in February this year.

Aasha was brought back to the safe release boma along with other 13 cheetahs for health examinations recently following the death of nine felines.