Cheetahs are being airlifted to India as part of an effort to resurrect the species

• Twelve cheetahs have arrived in India.
• The cheetahs are part of an endeavor by India and South Africa to reintroduce the cheetah in India.
• Cheetahs were declared extinct in India in 1952.

New Delhi: Twelve cheetahs have arrived in India as part of efforts to bring the species back from extinction after decades in the country.

The South African feline predators were flown in from Johannesburg on Saturday, according to the Indian Air Force.

The cheetahs will next be carried by helicopters from the India Air Force to their final destination, the Kuno National Park in central Madhya Pradesh state, and released. They will be joined by eight cheetahs who were moved from Namibia in September of last year.

According to a joint statement from India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and South Africa‘s Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, the cheetahs are part of an endeavor by India and South Africa to reintroduce the cheetah in India.

The program would “expand the cheetah meta-population and return cheetahs to a former range state following their local extinction due to overhunting and habitat loss over the last century,” according to the announcement.

Cheetahs were declared extinct in India in 1952, according to the report.

According to the statement, the 12 cheetahs are all “wild-born” and are familiar with their natural predators. Cheetahs are preyed upon by other big cats and eagles.

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