Madhya Pradesh: Tourists flock to take glimpse of Cheetahs at Kuno National Park in Sheopur

Sheopur (Madhya Pradesh) [India], April 5 (ANI): With the movement of Cheetahs increasing in the wild at Kuno National Park located in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district, tourists are flocking to take a glimpse of it.

Recently, tourists got to see Pawan Cheetah here at Kuno and they were quite happy to have the glimpse of the big cat. The gates for the tourists were opened in October last year and on weekends a huge number of tourists visit here in hope to see the cheetah.

The park management have also made adequate arrangements and facilities for the tourists visiting here. There is also a fixed time slot for tourists to go inside the Kuno park in the morning as well as in the evening.

One of the tourists, Adarsh, a resident of Sheopur, told ANI, “I am fortunate and very happy that I saw one of the cheetahs named Pawan here. There is a proper facility here in the park. We are having Gypsy safari and there are forest camps inside the park. Water arrangements and washrooms are available at the gate. Guides also give us proper information and make us aware about rules and regulations here.”

Chief Conservator of forests (CCF) at Kuno National Park, Uttam Kumar Sharma also said that they were trying to provide all the facilities for the tourists at Kuno and their objective was the tourists should also enjoy seeing the Cheetahs.

“We are trying to provide all the facilities, including washrooms for the tourists in Kuno National Park. We have three tourist gates which include Ahera Gate, Tiktoli Gate and Bawadi Gate from where the tourists enter inside the park. The fixed time slot in the morning as well as in the evening from 6:30 to 11:00 am and from 3:30 to 6:30 pm, keeping in view of the heat. During this time, tourists can come and visit the forest,” Sharma told ANI.

“Our objective here is that when the cheetahs are in the open wild, the tourists should also enjoy talking glimpses of it. Recently, there was a time when Pawan cheetah wandering in the tourist area and the tourists were able to see it. It is a good thing that the primary objective of protecting Cheetahs in India and the experience that the tourists gain are here in Kuno,” he said.

The CCF further said that the possibilities of more Cheetahs to be seen by the tourists would increase in the coming days and that would increase the number of tourists.

“Be it any parameter, number or generation, the project that was started by the PM, we are in a better situation and we are continuously moving towards the objective. It shows a better future for Cheetahs in India,” he said.

“Tourists come to Kuno Park with great desire to see the cheetah. Sometimes, tourists have good experiences of seeing the cheetah and sometimes tourists also have disappointing experiences in which they are not able to see the cheetah. So, we tell them not to be disappointed, they should see the habitat and wild area of Cheetah here and see other animals as well,” he added.

One of the objectives of the Kuno project is that the tourists in this area and the regional people who are taking care of the forest and the cheetahs should benefit from the development that takes place here, the CCF said.