Jaipur: A Botswana-born male cheetah from Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park, known for its unusual friendliness with an India-born male despite the absence of family ties between them, has crossed over into Rajasthan’s Baran forests.The animal, identified as CCB-4, entered Baran district Friday night, forest officials said.“The cheetah came from Kurkuta village in MP into Kurkuti village in Rajasthan. It then moved through Dua, Silori and Khushiyara areas before reaching Anjroda forests,” a forest official said.Teams from Kuno National Park and the forest department’s Kelwara range are tracking its movement, he added.Around three years old, CCB-4 was among nine cheetahs, three males and six females, translocated from Botswana in the third batch of Project Cheetah. The animals first arrived in Gwalior aboard an Indian Air Force aircraft, before being flown into Kuno by helicopter on Feb 28 this year.They were initially kept in quarantine enclosures before being gradually released into the wild.CCB-4 first drew the attention of forest guards in Sept after it was seen forming an unusual alliance with KNG-23, a male cheetah born in India. Although male cheetahs usually form bonds only with their male siblings, these two animals – born in separate countries to different mothers – upset conventional conservation wisdom.They began hunting and feeding together, besides grooming each other. Wildlife officials at Kuno have described their association as a rare example of coalition between unrelated males.This is also not the first time cheetahs from Kuno have ventured into Baran. The district’s forests have previously hosted several cheetahs from the park for extended periods.“Cubs KP-2 and KP-3 spent considerable time in the area. Female cheetah Veera also stayed in these forests for an extended period with her cub. She returned to Kuno in Sept after spending around 27 days in the region. Around two years ago, Veera had also ventured into the forests of Baran district’s Shahabad tehsil,” a forest official said.Baran’s landscape is considered suitable for cheetahs because of its open and semi-arid habitats, grasslands and scrub forests.“Cheetahs generally prefer areas with sparse vegetation, where they can spot prey and use open stretches to run. Their prey includes small and medium-sized animals such as spotted deer, blackbuck, chinkara, young nilgai, goats and sheep,” a retired assistant conservator of forests said.“Several areas in Baran could become suitable cheetah habitats if prey populations are augmented and grasslands are protected,” he added.
