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HISTORIC moment when PM Narendra Modi released cheetahs in MP's national park - in PICS

As part of the programme to reintroduce the cheetah in India seven decades after it was declared extinct in the country, PM Narendra Modi released 8 Namibians cheetahs to Kuno National Park in MP.

Zee Media Bureau|

Updated:Sep 17, 2022, 03:17 PM IST

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Welcome home, cheetahs!

On his 72nd birthday, PM Modi released 8 cheetahs that were flown down from Namibia in Africa and released them in MP's Kuno National Pak. Cheetahs had gone extinct in India in 1952.

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Cheetah cheers! A unique birthday for PM Modi

Releasing the Namibian cheetahs in MP's national Park - It was a unique way in which PM Modi ushered in his 72nd birthday.

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Cheetah watching: PM accompanied by MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was also present with Modi on the dais, along with Minister for Environment and Forest Bhupendra Yadav.

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PM Modi's click: Cheetahs in MP national park

Wearing a pale blue kurta, light brown jacket, a pair of sunglasses and donning a dark brown hat, the prime minister also clicked photographs of the cheetahs on a DSLR camera following their release. These animals are radio-collared. (Pic: IANS)

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PM Modi releases 3 cheetahs

At the national park, a dais was set up, under which special cages carrying cheetahs were kept. PM Modi released three of these felines around 11.30 am by operating a lever of the cages. (Pic: ANI)

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8 cheetahs flown from Namibia

A total of eight cheetahs - five females and three males - were brought to Gwalior from Namibia in a modified Boeing aircraft on Saturday morning as part of 'Project Cheetah', the world's first inter-continental large wild carnivore translocation project.

(Pic: ANI)

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Rehabilitation plan suffered setback due to Covid-19

The 'African Cheetah Introduction Project in India' was conceived in 2009. A plan to introduce the big cat in the Kuno National Park by November last year had suffered a setback due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

(Pic: ANI)

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Cheetahs in India!

The prime minister released three cheetahs in an enclosure, while the rest five were released by other dignitaries, KNP Divisional Forest Officer P K Verma told PTI.

(Pic: ANI)