12 May 2026·The Hindu

2 cheetahs released into wild in Kuno National Park

In this note

1. At a Glance

Kuno National Park (Madhya Pradesh) event: 2 female cheetahs from Botswana released into open forest after quarantine, May 2026, part of Project Cheetah [4].
Project Cheetah = world's first intercontinental large-carnivore translocation, launched 17 Sept 2022 [1].
MP branded "Cheetah State" — key for Prelims (state-specific wildlife tags) [4].
UPSC angle: conservation biology, species reintroduction ethics, IUCN status, federal wildlife governance.

Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav released 2 female cheetahs (from Botswana batch) into open forest at Kuno on Monday (article dated 12 May 2026), post quarantine completion [4].
Called continuation of cheetahs sourced from Nigeria, South Africa, now Botswana — cumulative reintroduction "success" per CM [4].

1952: Cheetah declared extinct in India.
2009-2013: Early relocation proposals stalled via Supreme Court litigation (African vs Asiatic cheetah debate).
17 Sept 2022: PM released 8 Namibian cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus jubatus) at Kuno on his birthday — Project Cheetah formally launched [1].
Feb 2023: 12 cheetahs from South Africa released at Kuno [1].
2025-26: Batches from Botswana (9 cheetahs — 6 female, 3 male — arrived per PIB) [1]; latest 2 females released May 2026 [4].
Dec 2025: PIB report "Roaring Revival" — population reaches 30 (12 adults, 9 sub-adults, 9 cubs; 11 founders + 19 India-born) [1].

Item	Detail
Nodal Ministry	Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) [1]
Implementing body	National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) [1]
Species	Acinonyx jubatus jubatus (South African/Namibian cheetah subspecies)
Site	Kuno National Park, Sheopur district, Madhya Pradesh
Launch date	17 September 2022 [1]
Source countries	Namibia (2022), South Africa (2023), Botswana (2025-26) [1]
Long-term target	Metapopulation of 60-70 cheetahs across 17,000 km² Kuno-Gandhi Sagar landscape [1]
IUCN status of Cheetah (global)	Vulnerable (criteria A4b; C1) [2]
Asiatic Cheetah subspecies (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus, Iran)	Critically Endangered, separate from African reintroduction stock [2]
Population (Dec 2025)	30 total — 11 founders + 19 India-born [1]

Environmental

Cheetah reintroduction aims restore grassland/open-forest ecosystem (apex predator role), indirectly aiding carbon sink enhancement [1].
Concerns: Kuno's carrying capacity, prey base adequacy, competition with leopards.

Scientific/Technological

Uses satellite/radio-collar telemetry for monitoring; quarantine protocol before wild release (as with the 2 Botswana females) [4].

Administrative

Centre-state coordination: MoEFCC/NTCA (Centre) executes at state (MP) forest department level; state political credit-claiming visible ("Cheetah State" branding by CM) [4].
Multi-country diplomatic coordination (Namibia, South Africa, Botswana MoUs) for cheetah sourcing.

Legal/Constitutional

Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 — Schedule I species protection framework governs translocation.
2013 Supreme Court order initially restricted African cheetah introduction (Asiatic lion priority); relaxed 2020 to allow African cheetahs on experimental basis.

Ethical/Governance

Debate: reintroducing non-native subspecies (African, not extinct Asiatic cheetah) — scientific/ethical contention on taxonomic substitution.

Dec 2025: PIB "Roaring Revival" report — 30 cheetahs, one year+ milestones summarized [1].
2025-26: Botswana batch (9 cheetahs) arrives at Kuno, welcomed by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav [1].
Cub births reported: Indian-born female cheetah gives birth to 4 cubs; separate report of 3 cubs; Jwala gives birth to 5 cubs — cumulative cheetah count reaches 53 in one PIB update [1].
12 May 2026: 2 female Botswana cheetahs released into open Kuno forest by MP CM Mohan Yadav after quarantine [4].

Cheetah declared extinct in India in 1952.
Project Cheetah launched 17 September 2022 (PM's birthday) at Kuno National Park.
First cheetahs sourced from Namibia (8, 2022), then South Africa (12, Feb 2023), then Botswana (9, 2025-26) [1].
Nodal Ministry: MoEFCC; implementing agency: NTCA (not Wildlife Institute of India alone) [1].
Kuno National Park located in Sheopur district, Madhya Pradesh.
Long-term target: 60-70 cheetah metapopulation across 17,000 km² Kuno-Gandhi Sagar landscape [1].
IUCN Red List status of Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus): Vulnerable [2].
Asiatic Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) — Critically Endangered, found only in Iran, distinct from reintroduced African subspecies [2].
World's first intercontinental translocation of a large carnivore species = Project Cheetah [1].
Madhya Pradesh popularly branded "Cheetah State" [4].
December 2025 population count: 30 cheetahs (11 founders + 19 India-born) [1].

GS-III: Environment — Conservation of biodiversity; Species reintroduction programmes.
GS-II: Governance — Centre-State coordination in environmental federalism.
Possible stems:
"Critically evaluate India's Project Cheetah as a model of species reintroduction. Discuss ecological and ethical concerns." (GS-III)
"Examine Centre-State dynamics in wildlife conservation programmes with reference to Project Cheetah." (GS-II)
"Discuss challenges in translocating African cheetah subspecies into Indian ecosystems in absence of native Asiatic cheetah." (GS-III)

Asiatic Lion (Gir, Gujarat) — comparative single-habitat big-cat conservation debate.
Project Tiger / NTCA — same implementing authority, older flagship programme.
Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 — legal backbone for translocation & Schedule species.
IUCN Red List categories — Prelims-recurring classification system.
Van (Forest) Rights Act, 2006 — local community rights vs protected area expansion (Gandhi Sagar landscape).
CITES — international wildlife trade/translocation regulation.
Van Mahotsav / National Wildlife Action Plan 2017-31 — broader conservation policy frame.

Confusing African cheetah (reintroduced) with extinct native Asiatic cheetah subspecies (still exists only in Iran) — commonly conflated in MCQs.
Wrong ministry attribution — it's MoEFCC/NTCA, NOT Ministry of Tribal Affairs or state forest dept alone.
Wrong launch year — Project Cheetah is 2022, not 2020 (2020 was SC approval year for experimental introduction).
Location confusion — Kuno National Park is in Sheopur, not Shivpuri or Palpur (old name "Kuno-Palpur" causes mix-up).
Source-country sequencing — Namibia (2022) → South Africa (2023) → Botswana (2025-26); order often tested.