Kuno National Park reopens, but tourists’ wait to see cheetahs continues

Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh — the only home of cheetahs in the country — reopened for tourists on Sunday after being shut for the annual monsoon season. However, the two-year wait of visitors to get a glimpse of the cheetahs is not yet over as the felines have not been released into the wild so far.

Nearly eight decades after the cheetahs were hunted to extinction; eight large carnivores were brought from Namibia to the national park in September 2022 and put in bomas (enclosures) to revive their population in India. Later, 12 cheetahs were brought from South Africa in February 2023 as part of the Indian Government's project to reintroduce cheetahs into the country.

The park, spread over an area of 1,235 sq km, including 487 sq km buffer zone, had reopened and visitors were allowed from 6.30 am to 10 am and from 3 pm to 6 pm, national park’s director Uttam Sharma said on Sunday. He said the park was home to 24 cheetahs, the fastest land animals, including 12 adults brought from Namibia and South Africa.

Asked when tourists will get an opportunity to see the cursorial predators, Sharma said talks were on regarding it. “The call on it will be taken by the Government of India, which is spearheading the inter-continental translocation project,” another forest official said.

All national parks in Madhya Pradesh, except the one in Kuno, reopened on October 1 after remaining closed from July 1 due to the rainy season and mating period of wild animals. On the delay in reopening of the Kuno park, Sharma said it was due to excess rainfall in Sheopur district.  Roads inside the park were in bad shape due to torrential rains.

Sheopur district received the highest 1,323.2 mm rainfall in MP during the just concluded monsoon season from June 1 to September 30, against its average rainfall of 666.4 mm. The district recorded 99 per cent more rainfall than normal, said PK Raikwar, a meteorologist with the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) Bhopal centre.