Bhopal, March 10 – The Nauradehi wildlife sanctuary, which has been renamed Rani Durgavati Sanctuary and covers the districts of Narasinghpur, Damoh, and Sagar in Madhya Pradesh, will soon become the third home for cheetahs in India, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said on Tuesday.
The Chief Minister stated that preparations are almost complete, and the Madhya Pradesh government will release some cheetahs from Kuno National Park (KNP) to Nauradehi within the next two months.
"The 'Project Cheetah' is thriving in Madhya Pradesh. The state government will also release cheetahs in the Rani Durgavati Sanctuary (Nauradehi) within the next two months," he said in a statement on Tuesday.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the nodal agency for India's ambitious 'Project Cheetah', along with other relevant authorities, had approved Nauradehi as the third home last year, and preparations were subsequently initiated.
The Nauradehi area is located on a plateau spanning the Sagar and Damoh districts in the Bundelkhand region. While it has a deciduous forest with abundant sal, teak, mahua, bamboo, and bel trees, it also has extensive, continuous grasslands that serve as grazing lands for herbivores, with a substantial prey base, including four categories of antelopes, and other animals such as wild boar.
The forest department is also working to further enhance this prey base by translocating cheetahs or spotted deer from the Pench and Kanha Tiger Reserves.
In 2010, Nauradehi was one of the priority sites considered for the reintroduction of cheetahs, but was later dropped due to the large number of villages that had yet to be relocated within the sanctuary.
Notably, the country's total cheetah population crossed the half-century mark on Monday, with Namibian cheetah Jwala, also known as Siyaya, giving birth to five cubs at Kuno, which has been the first home for African cheetahs in India since September 17, 2022.
With the birth of five more cubs on March 9, the number of cheetahs in India – at KNP and Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary (both in MP) – has reached 53, which includes 33 cubs (all at KNP) and 20 adults from Namibia, South Africa, and Botswana.
Out of a total of 53, three adult cheetahs – one male and two females – have already been released at the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary located in the Mandsaur district of the state.
