Oban is now Pavan, Siyaya is Jwala. Cheetahs from Namibia, South Africa renamed
The Namibian and South African Cheetahs that were released in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park were renamed after receiving suggestions from the public.
The cheetahs introduced in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park from South Africa and Namibia have been renamed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought suggestions from the public during his ‘Mann ki Baat’ programme in September last year. The government received 11,565 entries suggesting new names for the reintroduced cheetahs.
The ministry of environment, forest and climate change said in a statement that the names were selected following scrutiny by a selection committee based on their significance and relevance to the conservation efforts and cultural value.
Namibian Cheetah's old name Asha (female) has been changed to Aasha, while Oban (male) has been rechristened to Pavan. The female Namibian cheetah Savannah is now Nabha, while Siyaya is now Jwala. Elton's (male) name has been changed to Gaurav, Freddy's (male) to Shaurya, and Tiblisi's (female) to Dhatri.
A four-and-a-half-year-old female Namibian cheetah, named Sasha, died last month due to a kidney ailment.
The new names of 12 South African cheetahs reintroduced in Kuno National Park are Daksha, Nirva, Vayu, Agni,Gamini, Tejas, Veera, Suraj, Dheera, Uday, Prabhas, Pavak.
The ministry congratulated the winners of the competition who suggested new names for Namibian and South African cheetahs.
The first batch of 12 South African cheetahs (7 males, 5 females) were translocated to India on February 18, 2023. The ministry said the animals were released into the larger enclosure in a phased manner.
Providing an update on the Namibian cheetahs, the ministry said that four of them are free ranging in the wild and are being continuously monitored. It said that all the 19 translocated adult cheetahs and four cubs are healthy and doing well.
The last cheetahs in the Indian wilderness were recorded in 1947 when three cheetahs were shot in the Sal (Shorea robusta) forests of Koriya District, Chhattisgarh State. The main reasons for the decline of cheetahs in India were large-scale capture of animals from the wild for coursing, bounty and sport hunting, extensive habitat conversion with a consequent decline in prey base and in 1952 Cheetahs were declared extinct.
