India welcomes 12 cheetahs from South Africa

India welcomed 12 cheetahs from South Africa on Saturday that will join eight others it received from Namibia last year as part of an ambitious drive to reintroduce the big cats in the country after 70 years.
An aircraft carrying the cheetahs landed at Gwalior Air Force base, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. The cats will then be flown in helicopters to Kuno National Park in India’s Madhya Pradesh state, where they will be released into quarantine enclosures.
In January, India said it planned to import 12 cats annually for the next eight to 10 years as part of an agreement signed by the two African countries.
Cheetah populations in most countries are declining. South Africa, where the cats are running out of space, is an exception.