Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav visited Kuno National Park on May 10 and 11 to oversee the release of two female cheetahs brought from Botswana from a soft-release boma into the wild.
While the state is widely recognised as India’s “Tiger State,” it is now expanding its conservation focus to several other species, including cheetahs, vultures, elephants, gharials, wild buffaloes, crocodiles and turtles.
The government is now concentrating not only on increasing wildlife populations but also on addressing broader ecological challenges such as human-animal conflict, habitat loss, tourism pressure, climate change and safe wildlife movement through forest corridors.
“Madhya Pradesh is no longer only defending its title as India’s Tiger State. It is trying to build the next Indian model of conservation: multi-species, corridor-led, tourism-linked, science-backed and politically visible.”
Wildlife-friendly infrastructure, including underpasses and overpasses, is being developed along stretches such as the Itarsi-Betul section of NH-46 to facilitate safer movement for animals. Corridor planning is also underway across major tiger landscapes, including Kanha National Park, Bandhavgarh National Park, Panna National Park and Pench National Park.
The Chief Minister also inaugurated a 13-km stone safety wall to reduce human-animal conflict around the reserve boundary.
The state cabinet has additionally approved a Rs 47.11 crore plan for wild elephant management and human-elephant conflict mitigation. The project includes surveillance systems, barriers, rapid-response mechanisms and community outreach measures.
The Madhya Pradesh government has also increased compensation for deaths caused by wild animal attacks from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 25 lakh.
The state is simultaneously preparing additional habitats for future cheetah expansion. Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary is being developed as another cheetah habitat, while Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary, now part of the Rani Durgavati landscape, has been approved as a third habitat site.
The cheetah population at Kuno rose to 57 after four cubs were born in April 2026, including the first recorded wild litter born to an Indian-born female cheetah.
Madhya Pradesh has also expanded its tiger reserve network. Ratapani Tiger Reserve was notified as the state’s eighth tiger reserve in December 2024 with a total area of 1,271.4 sq km, including 763.8 sq km core area and 507.6 sq km buffer area.
In March 2025, Madhav National Park was declared the state’s ninth tiger reserve.
The state’s conservation efforts have also extended to vulture rehabilitation. The Kerwa-based Bombay Natural History Society-supported Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre, jointly operated with Van Vihar National Park, has emerged as a major centre for vulture conservation.
In one recent case, a cinereous vulture rescued in Vidisha district in December 2025 was treated at Kerwa and released at Halali Dam in February 2026 before later flying thousands of kilometres toward Central Asia, according to officials tracking the bird.
The state has also expanded its protected area network. In April 2025, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Wildlife Sanctuary was notified across 258.64 sq km, becoming Madhya Pradesh’s 25th wildlife sanctuary.
Officials said the state is also working on expanding protection across Omkareshwar and nearby landscapes, while Tapti in Betul district has been proposed as Madhya Pradesh’s first conservation reserve.
“If the new model works, then Kuno will not be remembered only as the place where cheetahs returned to India. It will be remembered as the place where Madhya Pradesh began to redefine what wildlife governance in India could look like.”
