Dylan Bettencourt
To mark India’s Independence Day celebration, the country hoped to have wild cheetahs return to the country for the first time in 70 years.
The cheetahs from Africa were due to travel to India to mark the country’s 75th anniversary of their independence from British colonial rule.
However, angry leopards have moved into the enclosure meant for the cheetahs, threatening the return of the fastest land animal in the world.
Eight cheetahs are still due to arrive in India ahead of next Monday’s celebration but rangers at the wildlife sanctuary at the Kuno National Park have to get the leopards removed before the cheetahs can return.
Six leopards invaded the fenced-off area where the cheetahs were due to be held. Workers at the park have managed to trap and tranquilise three of the leopards thus far.
However, the remaining three leopards are not falling for the traps and the bait.
Amritanshu Singh, who is in charge of the enclosure, is growing more and more concerned.
“The camera traps show us the path the leopards are taking and where they are. We have set up traps which do not hurt the animal but set off an alarm telling us they are inside the cage.
“After tranquillising them, we can move them to another section of the park,” Singh said, as per The Times.
He added that if the park can’t remove the remaining leopards, the two animals may have to live together.
“If by chance we don’t get the remaining leopards out, it won’t be a disaster. African leopards do not typically like cheetahs so it may be the same with Indian leopards who, moreover, have never seen a cheetah in their lives. It will be interesting to see their reaction,” Singh said.
India’s final cheetahs were hunted and killed in 1952, following several years of a decline in the animal’s population.
The Asian nation reached an agreement with Namibia in recent years to reintroduce the animal as a source of national pride.
More cheetahs are due to be sent to India from South Africa in the next five years until the animal population reaches 50.
Image source: @DiscoverWildlife
