Watch: When the cheetahs were released into their new home in India

As the lever turned and the door slid open, one of the cheetahs hurried out, anxiously looked around at the new land, and then bounded off.

That's how, 70 years after it went extinct, the cheetah made a return to Indian soil. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday released eight cheetahs brought from Namibia into a special enclosure at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh.

PM Modi, wearing a pale blue kurta, a light brown jacket, and a dark brown hat, stood on a dais at the park, under which special cages carrying cheetahs were kept.


Around 11.30 he turned a lever, and one by one the big cats, woken up after their long overnight journey from Namibia, came out and went off into the special enclosure.

The, who was celebrating his birthday, clicked photographs of the cheetahs on a DSLR camera as the animals moved out of their cage.

Eight cheetahs - five females and three males - were brought to Gwalior from Namibia in a modified Boeing aircraft on Saturday morning as part of 'Project Cheetah'.

After an overnight flight over the ocean, the cheetahs landed in Gwalior shortly before 8 am, and were flown to Palpur near the KNP in two Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters.

The cheetahs are wearing radio collars, and how they fare in the wild will be monitored, over the coming days and months

The Kuno National Park, with an area of 344 sq m, is situated on the northern side of Vindhyachal mountains and has plenty of prey for these animals. This will be the new home for the cheetah, 70 years after the specie went extinct in the country.