Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: In the golden hues of a September dawn in 2022, eight majestic cheetahs from the Namibian savannas touched down on Indian soil, their paws marking the first steps of a species long absent from the subcontinent. This historic moment, presided over by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, heralded Project Cheetah, the world’s first inter-continental translocation of a large carnivore.
Fast-forward to November 2025: Mukhi, the first cheetah cub born on Indian soil, has herself become a mother to five healthy cubs, symbolising not just biological resurgence but a profound testament to human stewardship over nature’s delicate balance.
Launched on September 17, 2022, under the aegis of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and spearheaded by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Project Cheetah embodies India’s unwavering commitment to biodiversity restoration. Drawing from the 2013 Action Plan and Supreme Court directives, it seeks to reintroduce the Asiatic cheetah (declared extinct in India in 1952) as a flagship species, fostering ecosystem health across vast landscapes.
A beacon of hope
As of December 2025, Kuno supports a population of 30 cheetahs. With a further eight cheetahs arriving in India from Botswana, the project continues to stand as a beacon of hope, earning international recognition for its scientific rigour and diplomatic finesse.
What began as a conservation experiment has grown into a statement of ecological optimism and national commitment: a chance to restore a broken ecological link, honour our natural heritage, and lead a global effort in large-carnivore rewilding.
The cheetah’s tale in India is woven into the fabric of ancient lore, with the animal being a favoured hunting companion. The Asiatic cheetah, once roaming from the Arabian Peninsula to the Indian subcontinent, vanished from independent India, leaving a void in the grassland-savanna biome.
India’s native Asiatic cheetah vanished due to a combination of excessive hunting, poaching, and the use of cheetahs for coursing.
Reintroduction site
Endorsed by an expert committee, Kuno NP was selected as the optimal reintroduction site after the relocation of 24 villages, creating nearly 6,258 hectares, post- incentivised voluntary relocation, of inviolate grassland for the cheetahs.
By 2022, fortified by Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)-aligned strategies for species recovery, India transformed this plan into action.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal vision and sustained intervention have been the driving force behind Project Cheetah, transforming a decades-old dream into a living reality.
From directing the formulation of the 2022 Action Plan and pushing for the world’s first inter-continental cheetah translocation, to personally releasing the first eight Namibian cheetahs into Kuno National Park, he has remained deeply invested at every stage.
By linking the project to Mission LiFE and India’s G20 ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ ethos, PM Modi has elevated Project Cheetah into a global symbol of science-driven, community-inclusive rewilding, personally overseeing its progress and ensuring that the roar of the cheetah, silent in India for over seven decades, echoes once again across its ancient grasslands.
