The Indian Air Force will deploy its largest cargo plane – the Boeing-made C-17 Globemaster to bring 12 more Cheetahs to India from South Africa. The IAF C-17 has already taken off from India to bring home 12 of these animals from the Cat family on February 18, confirmed Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav. Unlike the previous time when the first batch of 8 Cheetahs was flown in India from Namibia on a Chartered flight operating a Boeing 747 with special livery, this time, Indian Air Force will be transporting them from Africa to India.  

The C-17 will land at the Gwalior Air Base on Saturday and from there, IAF Mi-17 helicopters will take the Cheetahs to the Kuno National Park, new home of the exotic animal, widely considered as the fastest living being on earth. Addressing a press conference in the Delhi, the Union Minister said that these 12 Cheetahs will be released on the same day of their arrival at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. 

The Indian Air Force recently deployed the C-17 Globemaster to Turkey after a deadly earthquake killed more than 4,000 people in Turkey and Syria. The IAF C-17 Globemaster made multiple sorties to carry relief and medical aid to the earthquake stuck country.

Previously on September 17, 2022, eight Cheetahs were brought to the Kuno National Park from Namibia in South Africa and were released by PM Modi on his birthday. Radio collars have been installed in all the cheetahs and monitored through satellite. Apart from this, a dedicated monitoring team behind each cheetah keeps monitoring the location for 24 hours.

The Cheetah Project Chief SP Yadav said “IAF`s C-17 Globemaster took off for South Africa from Hindon airbase today morning to bring 12 Cheetahs to the country. The IAF is not charging any amount for this task. The plane will take off from South Africa at 8 pm on Friday and will land in Gwalior the next day around 10 am. The cheetahs will be released in Kuno National Park on February 18”.

With ANI inputs