Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh | October 4, 2026
India’s ambitious cheetah reintroduction programme is preparing for another major expansion, with Nauradehi in Madhya Pradesh set to become the state’s third cheetah habitat after Kuno National Park and Gandhi Sagar.
Two cheetahs are scheduled to be transferred from Kuno National Park to Nauradehi on October 7, where Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav is expected to release them into a newly completed soft-release enclosure.
The development is particularly significant because Nauradehi has been considered a potential cheetah reintroduction landscape for well over a decade. India’s original assessments of possible reintroduction sites identified it as one of the country’s most promising landscapes.
Tholo and CCB-3 to Make the First Move
The first two animals selected for relocation are Tholo, a male, and CCB-3, a female.
CCB-3 is the sister of Radha, a cheetah previously released at Gandhi Sagar.
The Cheetah Steering Committee has reportedly approved the eventual relocation of four cheetahs to the Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve landscape. Tholo and CCB-3 will form the first pair to make the move.
Rather than being released immediately into the wider forest, the pair will initially enter a specially prepared 439-hectare soft-release boma.
The enclosure has been divided into five sections, protected by power fencing and equipped for round-the-clock monitoring of the animals.
Why Nauradehi?
Nauradehi was not selected suddenly.
Scientific assessments conducted for India’s cheetah reintroduction programme had already identified the sanctuary as a priority site. The landscape contains open woodland, savannah and grassland patches, including areas where villages were relocated, creating conditions considered suitable for cheetahs.
The Wildlife Institute of India assessment also reported improvements in habitat following reductions in livestock grazing and an increase in wild prey.
Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary itself covers roughly 1,200 sq km and lies around the junction of Sagar, Damoh and Narsinghpur districts.
It is now part of the much larger Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve, which extends across about 2,340 sq km, making it Madhya Pradesh’s largest tiger reserve.
A Cheetah Site Considered Since 2010
Nauradehi’s potential as a cheetah habitat dates back to the earliest discussions about bringing the species back to India.
A government assessment published in 2010 described the sanctuary as part of a much larger 5,500-sq-km forested landscape and considered its prey availability favourable for cheetah reintroduction.
It was again identified as a recommended reintroduction site in the national Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India.
The October 7 transfer therefore represents the culmination of years of habitat assessment and management rather than simply an expansion to another protected area.
Project Cheetah Moves Beyond Kuno
When Project Cheetah began in September 2022, Kuno National Park became the centre of India’s attempt to restore a species that had disappeared from the country.
The first cheetahs arrived from Namibia in September 2022, followed by animals from South Africa in February 2023. Eight additional cheetahs donated by Botswana arrived at Kuno in February 2026.
The programme subsequently expanded to Gandhi Sagar, beginning a transition from a single reintroduction site towards a network of managed cheetah populations.
Nauradehi will now take that process further.
Recent figures released by the Union Environment Ministry show that Project Cheetah has developed from 29 founder animals, with the population reaching 52 cheetahs, including 49 cubs born in India over the course of the programme.
In April 2026, the project also achieved a significant milestone when an Indian-born female cheetah gave birth to four cubs in the wild at Kuno.
From One Population to a Network
Establishing additional sites is important for reasons extending beyond simply creating more space.
India’s cheetah action plan envisages managing smaller populations as part of a broader metapopulation, with animals potentially moved between suitable landscapes to maintain demographic and genetic viability.
That makes Nauradehi potentially much more than an additional enclosure.
If the animals adapt successfully and the landscape eventually supports free-ranging cheetahs, Nauradehi could become another component of a wider network of cheetah populations across central and western India.
The Union Environment Ministry recently confirmed that both Nauradehi and Gujarat’s Banni Grasslands have been identified as future cheetah release sites, saying Project Cheetah is increasingly shifting towards landscape-level management.
Preparations for Banni are also underway, although no release date has yet been finalised.
October 7 Will Mark a New Chapter
All eyes will now be on Tholo and CCB-3.
Their initial period inside the 439-hectare enclosure will allow wildlife managers to monitor how the animals adjust to their new surroundings before any subsequent decisions about wider release.
For Madhya Pradesh, their arrival will mean that cheetahs are no longer confined to Kuno and Gandhi Sagar.
It will also bring Project Cheetah into Bundelkhand for the first time.
More than a decade after Nauradehi was first identified as suitable cheetah country, the landscape is finally preparing to receive the animal for which much of that conservation planning was undertaken.
If the experiment succeeds, October 7, 2026 could mark the beginning of India’s third major cheetah population—and another step towards turning Project Cheetah from a single-site reintroduction into a network of connected conservation populations.
Source: The Hawk/IANS, October 3, 2026.
Leave a Reply