The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu visited the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh today (June 21, 2026). She took a tour of the Cheetah Management Area of the National Park and was briefed by the Divisional Forest Officer about the Project Cheetah.
During her state visit to Botswana in November 2025, the President had witnessed the symbolic donation of eight cheetahs by Botswana, which came to Kuno in February 2026. The Project Cheetah, launched on September 17, 2022, under the aegis of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and spearheaded by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, embodies India's steadfast commitment to biodiversity restoration.
This project aims to reintroduce the cheetah in India after its extinction in the country. Under Project Cheetah, the Kuno National Park has been developed as India’s first cheetah reintroduction site as it offers ideal habitat, abundant prey, and minimal human disturbance.
In the Kuno National Park, the first batch of Cheetah arrived in September 2022 from Namibia, the second batch arrived in February 2023 from South Africa, and the third batch arrived in February 2026 from Botswana.