Neemuch (MP), Sep 20 (PTI) The population of cheetahs in Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary (GSWS) in Madhya Pradesh, the second home in India for the fastest land animal under an ambitious revival project, rose to four on Sunday with the arrival of a three-year-old female cheetah from Botswana.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav rechristened the cheetah CCB-2 as ‘Radha’ before releasing her into a protective enclosure at the sanctuary, a day after Radha Ashtami, dedicated to Lord Krishna’s supreme lover, was celebrated in the country.
With the arrival of cheetah Radha, GSWS now houses four African cheetahs — two males and two females. The male members are named Prabhas and Pawak, and the female is named Dheera.
Radha was shifted from Kuno National Park (KNP),
the first home of cheetahs in India under the translocation project, and released into an enclosure separate from the three South African cheetahs, officials said.
Prabhas and Pawak, shifted to GSWS from KNP in April 2025, are housed together, while Dheera was translocated to the sanctuary in September 2025.
The four cheetahs are being kept in separate enclosures, with Radha’s enclosure located away from those housing the South African cheetahs, officials said.
Project Cheetah envisions establishing cheetah populations at multiple sites instead of concentrating them at KNP alone, and Radha’s release at GSWS is part of this long-term strategy.
The presence of cheetahs from South Africa and Botswana at GSWS will also contribute to maintaining genetic diversity through breeding between animals from different genetic lines, officials added.
India now has 56 cheetahs, including the four cheetahs at GSWS and 52 African cheetahs and their India-born cubs at KNP, officials said.
Another site, Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh’s Bundelkhand region, has also been prepared with five secured enclosures to receive cheetahs.
The intercontinental cheetah programme was launched in September 2022 to revive their population in India after cheetahs became extinct seven decades ago.
Under the project, eight cheetahs were brought from Namibia in September 2022, followed by 12 from South Africa in February 2023. A third batch of nine cheetahs arrived from Botswana on February 28 this year to KNP. PTI LAL NSK
