MP Clears Plan to Expand Kuno National Park

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government on Tuesday cleared the proposal to expand the Kuno National Park, home to cheetahs, after Union minister Bhupendra Yadav expressed hope for its success. The state forest department had earlier proposed addition of 54,249 hectares of forest land in Sheopur and Shivpuri districts to Kuno to improve the habitat and space for its prized inmates.

“The state government has approved the Kuno expansion proposal,” a senior forest officer told this newspaper on Tuesday, requesting not to be quoted. With the addition of extra forest land, the Park will be expanded to 1.77 lakh hectares.

The wildlife sanctuary, meanwhile, on Tuesday celebrated the completion of two years of the cheetah reintroduction project, launched with the release of eight big cats from Namibia in the park on September 17, 2022.

“It has not been an easy road. Numerous challenges, from habitat adjustments to ensuring the cubs’ survival in the wild, were overcome”, the Union minister said in his post on X on Tuesday.

He further said, “Today, as the world watches these cheetah cubs thrive in their natural habitat, we celebrate not just their survival but the resilience and dedication of all involved in these humongous efforts”.

This is just the beginning of restoring balance to our ecosystems and many more milestones lie ahead, he added.

In the first-ever intercontinental translocation of carnivores, 20 cheetahs, eight from Namibia and 12 from South Africa, were relocated to Kuno National Park in September 2022 and February 2023 respectively. Of them, eight died due to various reasons over the last two years while 17 cubs were born during the period. Twelve of the 17 cheetah cubs now survive. Kuno now has 24 cheetahs including 12 cubs.

Meanwhile, the CAG had raised concerns over the management of Kuno National Park. The CAG in its recent report for 2019-2023 had cited a lack of coordination between the Centre and the state regarding the cheetah project and said that the cheetahs were settled in Kuno without a proper working plan.