It began with a formal handover ceremony at Sir Seretse Khama International Airport in Gaborone, and ended with the creak of crate handles being turned open in the forests of Sheopur. On Saturday, nine cheetahs — six females and three males — completed a transcontinental journey from Botswana to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, becoming the third batch of African cheetahs to be reintroduced to India under Project Cheetah.The nine cheetahs were loaded aboard an IAF C-17 Globemaster operated by the 81 Squadron, the Skylords, for a flight that lasted nearly ten to twelve hours and covered approximately 7,600 kilometres. The aircraft touched down at the Air Force Station in Gwalior on Saturday morning, where wildlife officials and veterinarians conducted a formal inspection of the animals before they were transferred to IAF helicopters for the final leg to Kuno, landing at the national park by mid-morning.Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav was present at Kuno to receive them, symbolically releasing the cheetahs into specially prepared quarantine enclosures. “After eight cheetahs from Namibia were first reintroduced to India on September 17, 2022, and 12 were brought from South Africa in February 2023, I am thrilled to announce the arrival of nine cheetahs from Botswana — 6 females and 3 males — at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park,” Yadav said.With the arrival of the Botswana batch, India’s cheetah count now stands at 48. That number includes 29 Indian-born cubs, a figure that has become the most closely watched indicator of the programme’s long-term success. Since 2023, as many as 30 cubs have been born at Kuno, of which 28 have survived.The partnership between Botswana and India is recent in formal terms but grounded in a broader commitment to global wildlife conservation. It took shape in November 2025, when Botswana’s President Duma Gideon Boko committed to supporting India’s cheetah reintroduction effort through the donation of animals. The agreement was formalised as a government-to-government arrangement, eventually leading to Saturday’s transfer.Before the cheetahs were cleared for travel, they were subjected to a mandatory minimum quarantine period of 30 days in Botswana — standard protocol for international wildlife transfers — along with thorough veterinary assessments. A team of Botswana forest veterinarians and wildlife experts also travelled to India alongside the animals and will assist Indian officials through the initial monitoring period at Kuno.Botswana’s Chief Veterinary Officer at the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Mmadi Reuben, confirmed the animals were in good health when they departed.Story continues below this ad“The cheetahs were kept in minimum prescribed 30 days quarantine, which is part of the procedure to ensure that they comply for international standards for travel, and they have handled the immobilisation very well. We are very happy to have them also looking good today as they are being released,” Reuben said.The nine cheetahs have been placed in large, fenced quarantine enclosures at Kuno, where they will remain for between 15 and 30 days. During this period, wildlife veterinarians and forest officials will monitor their feeding behaviour, movement, response to Indian prey species and terrain, and any signs of stress or disease. Regular monitoring health parameters will be undertaken on a regular basis. Once health is confirmed, the animals will be fitted with GPS satellite collars for real-time tracking ahead of their eventual release into soft-release forest areas.Project Cheetah Director Uttam Kumar Sharma said the Cheetahs will will be kept under quarantine for a month before they are finally released.The nine animals come from a country that holds one of the world’s most significant cheetah populations. According to the Department of Wildlife and National Parks of Botswana and the 2023 Conservation Status report on Southern African cheetahs, Botswana hosts an estimated 1,694 adult and independent adolescent cheetahs — roughly 24 percent of the global cheetah population of approximately 7,100 individuals. Their range covers around 459,567 square kilometres, or about 79 percent of the country.Story continues below this adCrucially, roughly 76.9 percent of Botswana’s cheetahs live not in formally protected areas but on community and commercial farmlands, making them uniquely adapted to sharing landscapes with human activity and livestock. The Botswana population is also connected to cheetah populations in neighbouring Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, forming a critical component of the broader Southern African cheetah population.The 2023 report notes that while Botswana’s population has remained relatively stable over the past two decades, a notable achievement given the species’ decline globally, the population is under pressure from declining prey species, particularly springbok and impala, habitat degradation through overgrazing and veterinary fences, and the broader fragmentation of the Southern African range. Fragmentation, the report warns, risks genetic inbreeding and could further threaten the species’ viability.