Chandigarh, October 1
Seven decades after its extinction, Cheetah was reintroduced in the country under centre’s most anticipated programme ‘Project Cheetah’. Under the initiative, eight African cheetahs— 5 females and 3 males— were released into the wilds of Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh by PM Narendra Modi.
Now, much to the delight of people who wish to see the population of the wild cat flourish in India, it has been reported that Aasha, name given by PM Modi to one of the five big cats, might have conceived and could be the first one to give birth in the national park.
As per a report of TOI, officials closely monitoring the activities of cheetah project at Kuno said that Aasha is exhibiting all behavioural, physical and hormonal changes which suggest she is pregnant.
However, he also said we have to wait till October end to be sure about the development.
Project Cheetah was approved by the Supreme Court of India in January 2020 as a pilot programme to reintroduce the species to India.
The major purpose of the project is to develop healthy meta-populations in India that allow the cheetah to execute its functional role as a top predator, the government had said earlier this year.
