Cheetahs to prowl India for first time in 70 years

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It will be the first time in 70 years that India's forests will be home to animals.

One of the world's largest populations of the wild cat will receive eight of them in August.

After India's indigenous population was declared extinct in 1952, they came back.

The world's fastest land animal is the cheetah.

Only around 7,000 are left in the wild of this species, which is classified as a vulnerable species.

After spending the past two years working on how to transport the animals after India's supreme court decided in 2020 that they could be reintroduced in a carefully chosen location, officials announced the agreement.

The Kuno-Palpur National Park will be the first place where the first arrivals will reside.

The nation is celebrating 75 years of independence.

India's environment minister, Bhupender Yadav, said in a social media post that 75 glorious years of independence will bring back the ecological dynamics of the landscape.

The disappearance of the cheetah in India was due to a combination of hunting, habitat loss and food scarcity. Since the country's independence from British rule, it is the only large mammal that is still alive.

The area stretching from the Arabian Peninsula to Afghanistan used to be home to the Asiatic cheetah.

In Iran, it is known to survive. Government officials thought only 12 were still alive.

Efforts have been made to increase the number of cheetahs. After negotiations ended when the Shah was deposed in the Iranian Revolution, an attempt was made to bring the animals from Iran in the 70s.

Indian officials are interested in this latest attempt to succeed.

According to the country's environment ministry, the main goal of the project is to establish viable cheetah metapopulation in India that allows the cat to perform its function as a top predator.