India will welcome four cheetahs from Kenya later in 2026 as part of an ongoing wildlife translocation and conservation initiative.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) approved the transfer following a visit to Gujarat’s Banni grasslands in March, as reported by The Times of India on May 21.
Authorities confirmed that the four cheetahs, consisting of two male-female pairs, will be relocated to the Banni conservation facility in Kutch, where they will join counterparts from Botswana as part of the project’s breed-mixing strategy.
The conservation center spans approximately 500 hectares and serves as India’s first dedicated cheetah breeding and acclimatisation facility designed to replicate Kenya’s savannah environment.
Officials stated that robust chain-link fencing has been installed around Banni’s roughly 9,830-meter perimeter to protect the cheetahs from escapes and interactions with other large predators.
Prior to their transfer to Banni, the Kenyan cheetahs will undergo quarantine at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, where a holding facility has already been established.
The move falls under India’s broader initiative, aimed at reintroducing cheetahs to the country after they were declared extinct locally in the 1950s.
Last year, discussions between the governments had initially aimed to complete transfers from Kenya by 2026.
Kenya is one of three African countries collaborating with India on the translocation, alongside Botswana and Namibia. Indian authorities revealed that up to 12 cheetahs are anticipated to be brought to Banni within a year.
Authorities added that once the cheetahs breed successfully at Banni, there may be plans to release them into free-range areas in Kutch as determined by the NTCA.
After a February announcement by Bhupender Yadav, India’s Union Cabinet Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, regarding the arrival of nine cheetahs from Botswana, the government confirmed that India currently hosts 48 cheetahs, including 28 India-born cubs, along with earlier arrivals from Namibia in 2022 and South Africa in 2023.
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) identifies cheetahs as one of Africa’s most endangered big cats, with an estimated 800 to 1,200 adult cheetahs distributed across national reserves and conservancies.