Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): With monsoon season almost at its fag end, Kuno National Park is looking forward to augment the prey base for cheetahs. It has demanded spotted deer from Kanha Tiger Reserve, Pench Tiger Reserve, Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve and Madhav National Park.
Overall, 2500 spotted deer have been sought from forest reserves. A Kuno National Park official said 1,000 spotted deer have been sought from Kanha, 500 each from Pench, Bandhavgarh and Madhav National Park. The exercise is aimed at increasing the prey base for cheetahs. Government has given consent for translocation of spotted deer to Kuno.
The officials of aforesaid national tiger reserves and parks have started to chalk out planning strategy to catch spotted deer for translocation purpose. Kanha Tiger Reserve official said a batch of spotted deer was translocated to Kuno on September 17-18.
In coming days, more efforts will be made to catch spotted deer and send them in a phased manner to Kuno. Kanha is having the highest density of spotted deer in comparison to any other tiger reserves of the state.
Notably, in the recently released Cheetah Project report, it has been stated that current population of cheetal, which is primary prey of cheetahs, in Kuno is around 6,700. By seeing that Kuno has 12 adult cheetahs and 91 leopards, there is huge deficit of prey base.
The report suggested to augment prey base in immediate manner. The report stated that at least 1500 spotted deer are needed to be translocated to Kuno to bridge the gap of prey base. Additionally, it is important to maintain spotted deer population in predator proof enclosures to ensure consistent supply of prey.
