Namibian cheetah's venture into Madhya Pradesh village leaves locals scared; rescue ops on

One of the cheetahs that was brought to Kuno National Park from South Africa's Namibia caused panic among villagers as the animal entered the Jhar Baroda village of Vijaypur in the Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh. The Kuno National Park is 20 kilometres away from the village, where the cheetah reportedly entered and is now being searched by a monitoring team.

According to the information from Kuno National Park, the cheetah Oban who ventured into an area near Baroda Village is identified as Oban who was brought by the central government from Nambia last month. Notably, the cheetah's presence near the village has created a panic-like situation among the villagers, and security has been tightened. After the Forest Department was informed about the incident, a wildlife team rushed to the spot to search for the cheetah. However, the cheetah has not been found yet, and the team, along with the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), is currently conducting a search operation to locate the big cat.

Escape of cheetah from Kuno National Park leaves villagers scared

The news of cheetahs escaping from Kuno National Park has left villagers scared. Some have also reported that they spotted Oban in the fields near Golu Pura and Jhar Baroda village in Vijaypur tehsil in the district. Meanwhile, it was equally shocking for the Forest Department officials when they learnt that Oban had ventured out of the Kuno Sanctuary and was now in the nearby villages. The forest department has assured the villagers that they are taking all necessary measures to ensure their safety, and a rescue operation is underway to safely capture the animal.

"As per the signals from its collar device, the cheetah was moving towards the village from Saturday night. It is sitting at the spot and a police team is monitoring the situation and keeping villagers away. Forest department staff are trying to send it back into the park area," Sheopur divisional forest officer (DFO) P K Verma told PTI.

Significantly, for the first time in 70 years after their extinction from India, the cheetahs are back on Indian soil. A total of 20 cheetahs were imported to India in two batches. The first batch contained eight cheetahs from Namibia that arrived in September last year and 12 more from South Africa in February 2023. India was home to Asiatic cheetahs until the species was declared extinct in the country in 1952.

Image: PTI