Palpur to be home for 3 cheetahs from Namibia

05-05-2012
Palpur to be home for 3 cheetahs from Namibia
Daily Bhaskar
http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/MP-BHO-palpur-to-be-home-for-3-cheetahs-from-namibia-3216578.html

The Palpur Kuno sanctuary in Sheopur district is soon going to be home for three Namibian cheetahs over six decades after extinction of the species from the country.

The state government has decided to trans-locate three Namibian cheetahs to the Palpur Kuno sanctuary.

The sanctuary is ready to welcome new guests but the climate is a hindrance, said forest minister Sartaj Singh.

The state government has earmarked Rs 3.06 crore for tans- locating the cheetahs from Namibia. It has written a letter to this effect the Union government, seeking support, the minister said.

The government had originally prepared a park for translocation of the lions from Gujarat. But the plan had to be abandoned even after shelling out Rs 25 crore for developing the park as the Gujarat government refused to part with its Gir lions.

Earlier, senior officials Wildlife Institute of India (WII), who inspected the park, had given green signal to identify it as one of

the several habitats for cheetahs. They suggested to trans-locate cheetah either from Kenya, South Africa or Namibia.

"We are a bit delaying the translocation in view of the hot weather condition in the state,"the minister said.

Palpur Kuno, spread over 330 sq km, was developed for translocation of lions. The government did not want waste the money spent on developing it and hence decided to trans- locate cheetahs, as it was an ideal place for them, added the minister.