Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to release the cheetahs in Madhya Pradesh.

New Delhi:

The plane travelling to bring eight cheetahs from southern Africa had India’s national animal, the tiger, intricately painted on its front, a photograph shared by the High Commission of India in Namibia showed.

“A special bird touches down in the Land of the Brave to carry goodwill ambassadors to the Land of the Tiger,” the caption accompanying the image read.

A special bird touches down in the Land of the Brave to carry goodwill ambassadors to the Land of the Tiger.#AmritMahotsav#IndiaNamibiapic.twitter.com/vmV0ffBncO

— India In Namibia (@IndiainNamibia) September 14, 2022

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav retweeted the post and said, “India can’t wait to welcome these ‘goodwill ambassadors’. The whole country is waiting to hear their growls once again decades after they went silent in the country.”

A malnourished female cheetah nursed back to health and two brothers who hunt together as a team are among the eight big cats being brought from Namibia to reintroduce the species in India.

The large carnivore got completely wiped out from India due to their use for coursing, sport hunting, over-hunting and habitat loss. The government declared the cheetah extinct in the country in 1952.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to release the spotted feelines – five females and three males – into the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on his birthday on September 17.

(With inputs from PTI)