The two cheetahs will be shifted to Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary, over 250 km from Kuno, where the ambitious intercontinental translocation of the big cats was launched nearly three years ago.

Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Uttam Kumar Sharma said preparations have been completed for the shifting of the male coalition.

Prabhash and Pavak would be taken by road to Gandhi Sagar sanctuary, which straddles Mandsaur and Neemuch districts, where Chief Minister Mohan Yadav will release them in the evening, he said.

The journey will take 6-7 hours, said the official, without disclosing the route.

Prabhash and Pavak were brought from South Africa’s Waterberg Biosphere Reserve to Kuno National Park in February 2023.

Eight Namibian cheetahs, comprising five females and three males, were released in KNP on September 17, 2022, marking the first-ever intercontinental translocation of the big cats.

In February 2023, twelve more cheetahs were translocated from South Africa to Kuno, which now has 26 cheetahs, including 14 India-born cubs.

National Tiger Conservation Authority officials had informed in Bhopal on Friday that eight cheetahs would be brought to India from Botswana in southern Africa in two phases, including four by May. PTI COR ADU NR