A big forest land, encompassing over 550 square kilometre that was earlier conserved for Madhavrao Scindia Sanctuary, will be added to the Kuno National Park (KNP), making it safe habitat and adequate space for the cheetah.

The addition of forest land will provide sufficient space to the cheetah for territory formation and killing prey. The original area of KNP as notified was 749 sq km and through of 550 sq km, it is now going to enjoy a sprawling 1,299 sq km area. The 55 acres of forest land is situated between Madhav National Park in Shivpuri district and KNP was conserved to be developed as Madhavrao Scindia Wildlife Sanctuary. Concerned over the need of vast area for cheetah in Kuno, Government has decided to add the land in Kuno’s periphery. The proposal to develop Madhavrao Scindia Sanctuary is postponed as of now. According to reports, in January 2022, 19,279 hectare of forest land was identified for developing the sanctuary. As the area does not include any village, officials found it suitable for the big cats’ habitat. Proposal for the same was sent to the Government on September 16, 2019.

 

Talking to ‘The Hitavada’ Wildlife Warden Aseem Srivastav (PCCF wildlife) said, “Process is on to extend the area of Kuno National Park and notification for the same will be released soon. We are making effort to provide adequate space to the cheetah. In future cheetah will be released into wild and then they need vast space.” He further informed that currently there are 14 adults and one cub at KNP. As monsoon period is underway, all cheetahs are in enclosure and medical team is keeping an eye on their health. Regular health check-up is being conducted on cheetah. Team has suggested to release them back to wild in October after monsoon gets over.

 

He said that when cheetahs were released into wild, many of them strayed out of Kuno periphery. Asha, Pawan and a few other cheetahs reached Shivpuri’s Madhav National Park and nearby districts. He said that this incident indicated that 749 sq km of area is not sufficient for them while it needed to be extended. Preparation has begun to add the 55,000 hectare of land (550 sq km) of jungle in KNP. After adding this forest, a corridor will be developed connecting KNP, Shivpuri jungle and Rajasthan’s Ranthambore as all these places come under 200 km of area. Ranthambore’s extended area Kailadevi Wildlife Sanctuary and Kuno is having Chambal River. Forest staff assigned around forest land reserved for Madhavrao Scindia Sanctuary will be part of Kuno’s staff as they are well aware of the beat.