BHOPAL/JAIPUR: Cheetah Agni, which had walked out of the protected boundaries of
Kuno National Park
in MP's Sheopur district and wandered into Rajasthan, was tranquillised there on Monday and returned to MP forest officers in the evening.
Freed in the wild in Kuno barely a week ago, Agni is likely to find itself back inside a fenced-off enclosure until the vets give it a clean bill of health.
Agni and its cheetah brother Vayu were released together on December 7 in Kuno's Ahera zone, where tourists can catch a glimpse of these majestic creatures during safari visits. The cheetah siblings share an exceptional bond, have always been together since birth and often hunt in tandem, which is why many in Project Cheetah were surprised when they went their separate ways.
Vayu chose to stay within the Kuno confines while Agni set off on an adventure. It was sighted in the buffer zone near Sheopur's Pohari area last Saturday. That's when the alarm bells started ringing amid an unprecedented
surge
in
tourist visits
to Kuno.
Agni was tracked to a forest close to the Rajasthan border and forest officers decided to
dart
the cheetah and bring it back if it went any further. The steering committee advised a swift 'reunion' between Agni and Vayu, giving added urgency to the rescue.
Agni crossed the inter-state border on Sunday night and was spotted in Kelwara region of Rajasthan's Baran district, around 50km from Kuno. The operation to track the cheetah started on Monday morning, with the forest teams and trackers monitoring its movements since 9am.
Baran DFO Deepak Gupta said, "The animal was tranquilised around 5pm. After being darted, it was observed for nearly one and a half hours after which the MP team left with it for Kuno at 6.45pm."
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