Jaipur: Female cheetah Veera from Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park once again entered Rajasthan’s Baran district Monday. This time, she was recorded along with her 15-month-old offspring, KVP-2, in the Banjh Aamli Conservation Reserve in the Kishanganj area.Following the sighting, the forest dept intensified monitoring of the animals’ movements. “Veera and her offspring are currently roaming within the conservation reserve and are safe. Their location is being regularly tracked by teams deployed in the field,” a forest official said.This is not the first time Veera has crossed into Rajasthan. Nearly two years ago, her movement was recorded in the Shahabad region of Baran district.Teams of the Baran forest division, under the direction of deputy conservator of forests Vivekanand Bade, are tracking and monitoring the cheetahs to ensure their safety and prevent human interference.The dept has appealed to villagers and residents in the area not to approach or disturb the animals. People have been advised to immediately inform forest officials if they spot the cheetahs and to follow instructions issued by the dept.Despite repeated movement of cheetahs into Rajasthan, a proposed memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh for a feasibility study on the free movement of cheetahs across the wider Kuno-Gandhi Sagar landscape is yet to be signed.The Kuno-Gandhi Sagar cheetah landscape spans nearly 17,000 sq km, including about 10,500 sq km in Madhya Pradesh and 6,500 sq km in Rajasthan. It covers districts such as Sheopur, Shivpuri, Gwalior, Morena, Guna, Ashoknagar, Mandsaur and Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh, and Baran, Sawai Madhopur, Karauli, Kota, Jhalawar and Chittorgarh in Rajasthan.A senior official said, “Once the MoU is signed, feasibility studies, habitat assessment and coordinated planning for cheetah conservation across the landscape could begin.”
