Wednesday 04 / March / 2026
Sheopur : Another milestone for India's ambitious cheetah reintroduction project was achieved as nine cheetahs from Botswana were released at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district on Saturday.
The numbers are still very small and at risk of extermination, so India needs a robust insurance policy to make sure 'Cheetahs live in perpetuity', at least in highly protected laboratories. And yes, India has that unique 'Noah's Ark' carefully nurtured since 1998, called the Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES)
Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav was present at the park during the release, along with senior forest officials and other authorities.
With the arrival of these nine cheetahs from Botswana, the total number of cheetahs in India has now reached 48, including 28 India-born cubs. Of these, 45 are in Kuno National Park and three in Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh.
Since the first translocation from Namibia in September 2022, followed by additional animals from South Africa in early 2023, India now hosts a growing African cheetah population of 39 animals that includes several cubs born on Indian soil.
As the numbers rise and animals transition from managed care to free-ranging conditions, conservation scientists say the focus must now widen, from protection on the ground to preservation at the cellular level. Yes, animals, or at least their living cells, can be made immortal through in vitro conservation.
One Indian laboratory has been quietly preparing for exactly this moment.
At Hyderabad's Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES), a part of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), scientists are working on a different but complementary frontier of wildlife conservation: ensuring that if animals are lost to disease, accidents, or natural causes, their genetic material is not lost forever. Cryopreservation is a proven science now.
"I express gratitude to Prime Minister Modi on behalf of the Environment and Forest Department that under his vision and guidance, this cheetah project has been possible. Initially, PM Modi released the first lot of eight cheetahs from Namibia to Kuno National Park. After that a second lot of cheetahs were brought from South Africa and now today a third lot of nine Cheetahs were brought from Botswana. On this occasion, I thank the Government of Botswana and the officials who supported us in this cheetah revival programme," Yadav told reporters.
He also highlighted that previously a total of 20 Cheetahs, eight from Namibia and 12 Cheetahs from South Africa were shifted here, resulting in growing the Cheetah population in India to 39, including 28 India-born cubs. These cheetahs are surviving in Kuno as well as in Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary.
"It is the first project of translocating big cats between two countries. We also faced various challenges regarding the immunity, survival and local habitat of the Cheetahs but with the efforts of our officials and support of local people worked for the conservation of the big cats. I also extend my regards to CM Mohan Yadav who continuously reviewed the project," he added.
Additionally, in a post on X, the Union Minister stressed that the newly arrived cheetahs comprise six females and three males. Expressing pleasure over the addition, he said that the arrival further strengthens India's growing cheetah population.
"Adding to the purrs in Kuno! After eight cheetahs from Namibia were first reintroduced to India on September 17, 2022, and 12 were brought from South Africa in February 2023, I am thrilled to announce the arrival of nine cheetahs from Botswana -- 6 females and 3 males -- at Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park. With a thriving population of 39 cheetahs in India, including 28 India-born cubs, the ambitious Project Cheetah, undertaken under the environmentally-conscious leadership of PM Narendra Modi, has been a great success. I welcome our new friends from Botswana and wish they thrive and multiply in India's wild," Yadav said in a post on X.
'Project Cheetah' is India's world-first intercontinental translocation project, launched on September 17, 2022. The project aimed to reintroduce the cheetah to India, which went extinct in the country in 1952.
