A cheetah strayed into an agricultural field adjoining a village near Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district on Sunday morning, an official said.
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 forest officer (DFO) P K Verma told PTI.
"As per the signals from its collar device, the cheetah was moving towards the village from Saturday night. It is sitting at the spot and a police team is monitoring the situation and keeping villagers away. Forest department staff are trying to send it back into the park area," he said.
Forest department officials also shared a video in which staffers can be seen trying to coax Oban to get back into the forest.
So far, four out of eight cheetahs brought from Namibia to KNP in September, 2022, have been released in the wild (free range area) from hunting enclosures.
Oban and Asha were released into the wild on March 11, while Elton and Freddie, also known as "rockstars" due to their names, were allowed to move into the free range area on March 22.
Eight Namibian cheetahs, comprising five females and three males, were brought to KNP as part of an ambitious reintroduction programme of the species and were released into special enclosures on September 17 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
One of them, Sasha, died of a kidney ailment on March 27, while another, Siyaya, gave birth to four cubs, which were first spotted on March 29.
A set of 12 cheetahs, comprising seven males and five females, were brought in from South Africa on February 18 this year.
2 Male Cheetahs Released Into Open Wild Areas At Kuno National Park 2 Cubs Born To Cheetah Neerva Found Dead At Kuno National Park Cheetah Neerva Gives Birth To Cubs At Kuno National Park Video: Bird's-Eye View Of Devastation After Jaipur Accident That Killed 12 12 Dead, Many Critical In Jaipur Fire As 2 Trucks Collide Outside Petrol Pump Google Slashes 10% Of Managerial Staff In Hunt For 'Googleyness': Report UK PM Keir Starmer Nominates Indian-Origin Krish Raval For Peerage Key Ally To Canada PM Trudeau Says He Will Vote To Bring Him Down Luigi Mangione Case Exposes Dangers Of 3D Printed Firearms Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.