The big cats were released on Saturday. Both are male and are named as 'Elton' and 'Freddie'. Notably, since their arrival at Kuno National Park, all big cats (five male and three female) have been kept inside quarantine enclosures, where they completed 51 days on November 5.
Officials monitoring the daily movement and the health condition of the Namibian cheetahs at their new habitat at Kuno, said that one more big cat will be released into a larger enclosure by Sunday evening.
The development came after the officials at the Kuno National Park held another round of meeting with the members of the Cheetah Task Force of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to review the preparation for transportation of the cheetahs on Friday, sources said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed his happiness over the release of the two cheetahs. "Great news! Am told that after the mandatory quarantine, 2 cheetahs have been released to a bigger enclosure for further adaptation to the Kuno habitat. Others will be released soon. I'm also glad to know that all cheetahs are healthy, active and adjusting well," Modi posted on Twitter along with a video.
The Cheetahs were flown from the African country and released in the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district with much fanfare on September 17 by PM Modi as part of a project to revive the population in India, seven decades after the cheetahs were declared extinct.
