Madhya Pradesh: African Cheetahs to be fed through traditional Boma technique in Kuno National Park

Bhopal/Kuno(Madhya Pradesh): Traditional African technique called Boma will be used to send the prey inside a special enclosure prepared for African cheetahs to be introduced in Kuno National Park.

A specially prepared enclosure also termed as pre-releasing centre that covers over 500 hectares has been prepared for cheetahs for acclimatization in their new habitat. Some prey base has already been introduced inside the enclosure but what once it is consumed by the cheetahs.

“More animals will be sent inside the enclosure using Boma technique,” said Abdesh Dhakad, ranger of the park.

Explaining about the boma technique, Dhakad says that a separate gate has been made at one point of the enclosure. Forest staff will drive the prey animals using traditional ‘Haanka (driving)’ style from 1-2 KMs forest area. Staff members driving animals inside the enclosure will drive them in a funnel formation.

The prey animals will be attracted towards the funnel area by placing specially prepared bricks that are made of salt and jaggery. “Animals love to lick such bricks as it also fulfills their mineral demands,” explained Dhakad.

Over eight watch towers have been erected encircling the enclosure. These watch towers have high density cameras installed for 24X7 monitoring. The field staff will also keep a rough count of prey base present inside the pre-releasing centre. Whenever numbers of prey are reduced inside they will be sent using boma technique.

The enclosure is divided into five segments from inside. One or two cheetahs will be kept in one segment. Male and female cheetahs will be kept together or separate will be decided by WII experts.

The fence of the enclosure is specially designed in a manner that will not harm animals. Low voltage DC current will run in the upper part of the fence. Solar panels have been placed at various points to provide current to the fence and the cameras.

According to an estimate there are over 70 leopards in Kuno. Releasing cheetahs in the open might lead to territorial fights between cheetahs and the leopard. Therefore the pre-release centre has been built in a manner that leopards cannot enter it while cheetahs will remain confined in their centre. Field director PK Verma said that cheetahs cannot be released in the open directly. Their behavior needs to be studied first therefore they will be placed in the enclosure- called pre-releasing centre. The animals will acclimatize in the enclosure.