Cheetah Oban strays out of Kuno, villagers say, 'Go back, please'
- Bhopal: Cheetah Oban, one of the four released in the wild at Kuno, got out of the protected area of the National Park on Sunday, triggering a frantic effort to push it back.
- A viral video shows Oban hunkered down in a farmland outside the Kuno jungles, while villagers try to coax it back. "Go Oban, please go," they are heard saying in English on the presumption that the Namibian-origin animal would be more familiar with the language than Hindi.
- The Project Cheetah team is trying to drive Oban. back by making a human wall and using vehicles to build a corridor.
- Forest officials say Oban had been testing the boundaries of Kuno Park since its release in the wild. "Cheetahs have a large home range in the wild, with males holding larger territory than females. Already we've seen Oban venturing further into the park than Asha. And going beyond," said an official.
- "We are monitoring its movement continuously," Kuno field director Uttam Sharma said.
- Cheetah couple Oban and Asha were released into the wild in Kuno on March 11, marking the first time in over 70 years that cheetahs were reintroduced into India.
- The movement of the cheetahs is monitored 24. hours a day by the forest department and cheetah research team. That's how Oban's little adventure was detected just in time before it could get into human habitation.