Overview
- Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav confirmed on Tuesday that cheetahs released at Kuno National Park have begun straying into neighbouring Rajasthan, a pattern anticipated by the NTCA/WII 2024 atlas that mapped the Kuno‑Gandhisagar‑Ranthambore landscape.
- Gujarat officials have been preparing to receive five to six cheetahs for release at the Banni grasslands, with NTCA teams carrying out multiple habitat and prey‑base assessments and state teams building quarantine and soft‑release enclosures.
- Site preparations at Banni include about 50 hectares of enclosure area within a roughly 600‑hectare fenced site, around 10 soft‑release pens, veterinary and tracking systems, and a Centre‑funded project budget of about ₹20 crore.
- Officials warn long‑distance dispersal raises real risks such as human‑wildlife conflict, vehicle and rail strikes, and gaps in rapid‑response capacity, and they say improved monitoring, trained field teams and corridor work are needed to reduce those dangers.
- The national cheetah population under Project Cheetah stands at 53 individuals, and the NTCA’s pending approval of any transfer to Gujarat will determine whether the programme moves from a single stronghold to managed geographic expansion that directly affects local communities and transport safety.