Cheetah Oban takes a walk outside Kuno, foresters 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 foresters 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.
Watch Watch: Cheetah from Namibia sneaks out of Kuno National park, causes panic in MP village