Sheopur (MP), Apr 23 (PTI) A tiger from Rajasthan's Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR) has entered the cheetah territory of Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, officials said on Thursday.
A tourist spotted the big cat inside the park on Wednesday, Divisional Forest Officer Thirukural R told PTI.
Ranthambore is located 70 km away from Sheopur, which houses the Kuno National Park (KNP).
"This is not the first time a tiger has entered Kuno. It was seen here a couple of months ago as well," the official said.
Ranthambore is about a two-hour road journey from Sheopur, and the area forms a shared landscape for tigers of both states, he said.
Another official said the reserve in Rajasthan's Sawai Madhopur district lies around 100 km from Kuno.
The tiger that ventured into KNP has been identified as RTR's T-2512, according to sources.
Kuno National Park currently houses 54 cheetahs, including cubs.
Eight cheetahs were brought to KNP from Namibia in September 2022, followed by 12 from South Africa in February 2023, as part of an intercontinental translocation programme after the species became extinct in India about seven decades ago.
A third batch of nine cheetahs arrived from Botswana on February 28 this year. As of now, there are a total of 57 cheetahs in India, including those relocated to other sites from KNP.
Three cheetahs have been shifted to Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, while the others remain at Kuno.
The felines have been distributed across locations to reduce disease risk, as per officials.