Love is in the air especially in the one circulating around Kuno National Park (KNP) as cheetah Asha has followed the footsteps of her beloved boyfriend Oban out of confinement.
Oban, one of the eight cheetahs brought from Namibia in September last year, strayed into the field near Baroda village, some 15-20 kilometres from KNP, from the free range area of the park into which he was released last month, Sheopur divisional officer (DFO) P K Verma told PTI.
Absconding cheetah Asha named by PM Modi is a new added frustration to the already furious forest officer in Kuno, as reported by The Times of India.
The couple Oban and Asha had been released into the wild on March 11.
Also Reda | Cheetah strays into field near village along Kuno National Park; efforts on to send it back into wild
Asha has been reportedly headed towards the Shivpuri district “territorial forest area outside Kuno.”
It is alleged that the Project Cheetah team is planning on darting Oban if he continues to roam outside the Park.
The foresters reliased to their dismay only on Wednesday that not just one but they have lost two cheetahs from within their premises. According to the publication, Oban had been spotted 4km away from the Kuno National Park even as efforts to nab him intensified.
One of the many efforts made by the Project Cheetah team was to build a human wall and use vehicles in order to build a corridor in Kuno, but all these attempts have failed so far.
With two cheetahs missing, it is now upto India’s dedicated cheetah monitoring team to keep a tab of the ones still inside and capture the ones out on their adventure.