Cheetah Asha also moves out of Kuno as officers consider darting 'Oban'

BHOPAL: As Oban continues to venture around villages surrounding Kuno National Park in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh, Asha – the Cheetah named by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too has moved out of the protected area and is said to be heading towards the direction of Shivpuri district.
Two cheetahs, Oban and Asha, that were released in the wild at Kuno have now caused concern after straying out of the protected area, says sources.
Oban has been wandering around surrounding villages and has been hunting for prey while Asha has moved towards Shivpuri district and is located in a territorial forest area outside Kuno.
Officials have been continuously monitoring Asha's location. Meanwhile, the Project Cheetah (PC) team plans to dart Oban if he continues to remain outside. The decision is expected to be taken by Wednesday evening or Thursday.
According to an officer at Bhopal, Oban is still four kilometres away from Kuno and moving in a different direction despite efforts to push him back.
Previously, a viral video showed Oban hunkered down in farmland outside the Kuno jungles, with foresters trying to coax him back. More videos of Oban have surfaced on social media, including one of him drinking water from a river.
The Project Cheetah team had previously tried to drive Oban back by making a human wall and using vehicles to build a corridor, but he has continued to test the boundaries of Kuno Park since his release into the wild.
The cheetah couple, Oban and Asha, were released together into the wild on March 11, marking the beginning of the final step of the translocation process.
Conservationists hope that with enough time, these animals will establish home ranges within Kuno and rarely venture out into human-dominated landscapes. Until then, India’s dedicated cheetah monitoring teams, which have been trained since last September, will keep a close watch over any animals that do venture out.