Female cheetah explores new home at Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary

Indore: Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary's new guest, a female cheetah named 'Dheera', is exploring her new 27 square-km enclosure from the day of her release. She is not worried about prey but is first settling down.Two days after her release in Gandhi Sagar, Dheera has not yet made a kill, but she is being closely monitored by a 10-member team from the Forest Department. Dheera is currently observing her new habitat and has drunk water from a pond in the sanctuary four times. She has not yet met the male cheetahs, Prabhas and Pavak, who were released in the sanctuary on April 20 but in a different 15 square-km enclosure earlier.According to Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary Superintendent Amit Rathore, the monitoring team is fully alert and keeping a sharp eye on the cheetah's movements.

Rathore noted that the sanctuary has an adequate supply of prey animals like spotted deer and nilgai, which are capable of meeting Dheera's dietary needs."It depends on the last meal. If the last kill was a small animal, a cheetah can hunt again the next day, and if it's a big kill like nilgai, the fast big cat can stay without food for 3 to 5 days. Dheera is a natural explorer, and thus, she will first explore the entire area before settling down in a place of her choice," Rathore told TOI.

He added that Prabhas, Pavak, and Dheera have been shifted from Kuno sanctuary and thus, they might be familiar with each other.

"However, as they were staying separated, especially after attaining adulthood, we will take all the measures to ensure their safety before introducing the cheetahs to each other," he said, adding that all these three cheetahs are aged around eight years.Upon her release, Dheera immediately ran out into the open space, and officials noted that she seemed comfortable in her new environment.

"Dheera has not yet met Prabhas and Pavak, as she will remain in a separate enclosure for a while to acclimatise to her new surroundings. The long-term plan is to eventually release her to interact with the males to establish a larger cheetah population," Rathore said.The Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary has been specifically developed for cheetah rehabilitation and tourism, the senior official said, adding that the large enclosures, built at a cost of Rs 17 crore, have been prepared for the cheetahs. The long-term objective of this project is to establish a large cheetah population in the sanctuary. There are plans to bring more cheetahs from Kuno to Gandhi Sagar to accelerate the breeding programme.The two males are reported to be in good health, a key factor that led officials to introduce a female to the sanctuary to initiate a breeding programme.