Cheetahs to make a comeback in India after half a century

After years of staying away from the Asian country, the world’s fastest animal is set to return to India after travelling 8,405 km.

Eight cheetahs, five males and three females, will be travelling from South Africa to India in November after the country has managed to put together the resources and the correct habitat to bring the big cats home.

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"Finally we have the resources and the habitat to reintroduce the cat," Yadvendradev Jhala, dean of the Wildlife Institute of India, was quoted as saying in a report by BBC.

The intitiative will bring back cheetahs to India after more than half a century since they became extinct in the country. This will also be special as it will be the first time such a large carnivore will be relocated from one continent to another.

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The majority of the cheetahs are now found in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. They were last spotted in India in 1967-68.

The eight cats from South Africa will be rehabilitated in the Kuno national park in Madhya Pradesh, and any future transfers might be shifted to a tiger reserve in Rajasthan’s Mukundra hills.