Sheopur (MP), Dec 22 (PTI) A video of a wild animal, purportedly a cheetah, crossing a dirt road has surfaced amid claims that it was spotted near the urban boundaries of Sheopur city in Madhya Pradesh.
Officials of Kuno National Park in Sheopur district, the only abode of cheetahs in India, said they are not aware of the video clip while stressing that two cheetahs, who were released in the wild from enclosures earlier this month, are safe and being monitored.
Kuno National Park is located about 70 km from the Sheopur district headquarters.
The video, which surfaced on social media on Sunday morning, shows a wild animal crossing a dirt road amid fog at an unidentified location.
The person who shot the video can be heard shouting “cheetah” amid claims that it was spotted in Dhengda village panchayat behind the CM Rise area on the boundary of Sheopur city.
Two male cheetahs – Vayu and Agni – were released from enclosures into the wild in Ahera area of KNP on December 4.
Cheetah Project Director Uttam Kumar Sharma, however, said, “We are not aware of any video. We do not know who is circulating which video.” Both cheetahs are completely healthy and safe. They are being supervised by a forest team, he said.
KNP houses the cheetahs shifted from two African countries under the inter-continental translocation project for the fastest land animal which became extinct in India seven decades ago.
Eight Namibian cheetahs were released into enclosures at KNP on September 17, 2022. In February 2023, a dozen more cheetahs were translocated from South Africa. PTI COR ADU NSK
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