MP: Cheetah from Kuno National Park enters nearby village

Sheopur (Madhya Pradesh) [India], April 2 (ANI): One of the cheetahs, which were brought from Namibia in the Kuno National Park, reached a village, 20 km from Kuno on Sunday morning, a senior forest official here said.

However, the cheetah, named ‘Oban’, was under surveillance of the forest officials and they were trying to move the animal towards the Kuno National Park, the official said. District Forest Officer (DFO) Prakash Kumar Verma informed that ‘Oban’, reached Jhar Baroda village of Vijaypur which is adjacent to the forest and was sitting in the field. ‘Oban’ has been kept under the surveillance of the Cheetah Monitoring Team and will be released back to Kuno National Park, he added.

Earlier, the news of the cheetah reaching the Jhar Baroda village created panic in the area.

The DFO told that the villagers are far away from the place where ‘Oban’ is sitting, and the forest team has sticks and rods to move the animal from a distance.

Cheetahs roaming in the open forest of Kuno National Park are getting familiar with the forest by reaching every corner of it. They roam in an area of 10 to 15 km per day, the DFO said.

However, they also reach the outer areas of the forest, which are being monitored by the monitoring team for 24 hours, he said.

‘Oban’ is one of the Cheetahs which were brought from Namibia that were released into the wild of Kuno National Park in the Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh.