Madhya Pradesh is all set to welcome cheetahs into a second natural habitat, as the Cheetah Restoration Project at Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary nears its final stages. Two cheetahs are soon to be relocated from the Kuno National Park, the site of India’s first cheetah reintroduction effort.
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sanjay Raikhere confirmed that preparations have been ongoing for the last two and a half years, and that the infrastructure is now almost ready.
“We have a 64-acre enclosure, and the hospital has been renovated. Two cheetahs will be brought here from Kuno National Park shortly,” said Raikhere on Friday.
As part of the habitat development, six quarantine boomers and two treatment boomers have been set up, and steps have been taken to ensure adequate water supply by lifting water from Gandhi Sagar backwaters to the plateau.
Raikhere also noted that the Chinkara population, which serves as natural prey for the cheetahs, is thriving and breeding well within the sanctuary, supporting the ecosystem’s readiness for apex predators.
This move comes amid efforts to diversify and secure India’s cheetah population, following their reintroduction into the wild after being declared extinct in the country in the 1950s.
Vulture Conservation Gains Ground in Bhopal
In a parallel effort to protect endangered wildlife, the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department has taken a significant step in vulture conservation. On Wednesday, six captive-bred vultures were released into the wild from the Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre in Kerwa, Bhopal.
The released birds include two white-backed vultures and four long-billed vultures, all fitted with GPS trackers to monitor their adaptation, movements, and safety in the forests surrounding Halali Dam.
This initiative marks an important move to revive declining vulture populations, which have suffered sharp declines due to poisoning and habitat loss in recent decades.
With cheetah relocation and vulture rehabilitation both actively underway, Madhya Pradesh continues to assert itself as a pioneer in India’s wildlife conservation landscape, blending technology with ecological restoration.