MP: Prey base in Kuno being improved to stop cheetahs from straying out
Bhopal: In order to improve the prey base in the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district in Madhya Pradesh to prevent cheetahs from straying into the nearby human habitations ‘in search of food’, the state forest department has decided to translocate around 1,500 chitals or spotted deer to the KNP from other wildlife sanctuaries.
The proposal to relocate chitals from three wildlife sanctuaries in the state to the KNP was cleared by the wildlife wing of the state forest department here on Wednesday, sources said.
Around 500 chitals each from Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR), Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) and Madhav National Park (MNP) will be relocated to KNP to improve the prey base for cheetah in Kuno.
The KNP field director Uttam Sharma on Wednesday confirmed that chitals from other wildlife sanctuaries are being shifted to the KNP.
The move to improve the prey base in the KNP comes in the wake of cheetahs found to be straying into the human habitations in the periphery of the park and the neighbouring state of Rajasthan, frequently.
The felines have also killed prey such as cattle and goats in these areas.
Mr Sharma however dismissed the contention that cheetahs moved out the core area of KNP because of declining prey base.
“The prey base in Kuno National Park is sufficient. The main prey of cheetahs in KNP is chital. Cheetah is the fastest animal in the world and moves in vast areas”, he said.
A few months ago, around 1,000 chitals were translocated to KNP from other wildlife sanctuaries.
In the first ever intercontinental translocation of carnivores, eight cheetahs from Namibia were shifted to KNP in September 2019 under the cheetah introduction project.
Later, 12 more cheetahs were translocated to KNP from South Africa.
The cheetah population got a boost when two female cheetahs gave birth to cubs.
Ten cheetahs including three cubs have meanwhile died due to various reasons.
The cheetah population in Kuno now stands at 26.