Madhya Pradesh releases two cheetahs into Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav released two cheetahs, Vyom and Neera, into the Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve in Sagar district on October 7, 2026. The reserve becomes the state's third cheetah habitat, after Kuno National Park and Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary. Two more cheetahs will be brought there next month, the Chief Minister announced.
Syllabus: Prelims · Current Affairs & IR; Prelims · Environment & Ecology; GS3 · Environment & Conservation
Why it matters
Keeping all of a reintroduced animal's population in one or two places is risky, because a disease, fire or other disaster could wipe out much of it. Giving cheetahs a third home in Madhya Pradesh spreads that risk and leaves room for their numbers to grow. The move is also meant to draw tourists to Bundelkhand and create local jobs. Sharing sanctuary earnings with nearby villagers and helping them run homestays can give people living around protected areas a stake in wildlife, so that they see it as a source of income rather than a burden. It is part of the larger question of how to protect wildlife alongside people.
Prelims pointers
- Cheetah habitats in MP: Kuno National Park (Sheopur), Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary (Mandsaur), Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve (Sagar).
- Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve is also known as Nauradehi Tiger Reserve and lies in Bundelkhand.
- VDTR is important for the conservation of endangered Indian vulture species.
- Bomas are the secure modern enclosures built over about 439 hectares for the cheetahs at VDTR.
- Tiger reserves are notified by State governments on the recommendation of the National Tiger Conservation Authority under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
- Project Cheetah began on September 17, 2022, when eight cheetahs from Namibia were released in Kuno; the cheetah was declared extinct in India in 1952.
- The Asiatic cheetah now survives only in Iran; the cheetahs reintroduced to India are African cheetahs.
Practise a UPSC-style question
Consider the following statements about the Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve:
1. The reserve, now Madhya Pradesh's third cheetah habitat, lies in the state's Malwa region.
2. Also known as Nauradehi, it is Madhya Pradesh's largest tiger habitat, at about 2,339 sq km.
3. It spreads across parts of the Sagar, Damoh and Narsinghpur districts of Madhya Pradesh.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only
1 is incorrect: the reserve lies in the Bundelkhand region, not Malwa. 2 is correct: VDTR, also called Nauradehi, is the state's largest tiger habitat at about 2,339 sq km. 3 is correct: it spans Sagar, Damoh and Narsinghpur districts.
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