President Murmu visits Kuno National Park

President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday visited Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park and reviewed the progress of Project Cheetah, India’s flagship initiative to reintroduce the species in the wild after its extinction in the country. During the visit, the President toured the park’s Cheetah Management Area and was briefed by officials on the status of the project. Kuno, the country’s first cheetah reintroduction site, has been developed under Project Cheetah because of its suitable habitat, adequate prey base and relatively low human disturbance.
The visit comes months after President Murmu witnessed the symbolic handover of eight cheetahs by Botswana during her state visit to the African nation in November 2025. The animals were brought to Kuno in February this year as part of the latest phase of the project.
Launched in September 2022 under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and implemented by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, Project Cheetah aims to restore the species in India and strengthen biodiversity conservation efforts. The first batch of cheetahs arrived from Namibia in September 2022, followed by a second batch from South Africa in February 2023. A third batch, donated by Botswana, was introduced into Kuno in February 2026.