Two Cheetahs released into Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, released two cheetahs – male Vyom and female Neera – into the Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve (VDTR) in Sagar district, making it the third cheetah habitat in the state and the country.
After Kuno National Park in Sheopur and Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Mandsaur, VDTR in Bundelkhand region becomes the third home for cheetahs under Project Cheetah.
Officials said the cheetahs, brought from Kuno, were released into soft-release bomas (enclosures) spread over 439 hectares in the Muhali Range. The reserve, formerly Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary, is MP’s largest tiger reserve at 2,339 sq km across Sagar, Damoh and Narsinghpur districts. It was notified as a tiger reserve on September 20, 2023, and currently has about 30 tigers, 40 leopards, besides wolves and wild dogs.
This is the first time cheetahs will share habitat with tigers and leopards in India. Officials said cheetahs were last sighted in this landscape about 170 years ago.
Terming it a historic day for wildlife, CM Yadav said India’s Cheetah Project, launched in 2022 with eight cats, has now reached 60 animals, all in MP. Of these, 54 are in Kuno, four in Gandhi Sagar and two in VDTR. He announced two more cheetahs will be brought to VDTR next month.
The release was held on the concluding day of Wildlife Conservation Week. At the event, the CM also released the ‘Vulture Population Estimation 2026’ report and a book on VDTR written in Bundelkhandi. He said MP has the highest vulture population.
On community participation, Yadav said Rs 80 crore was collected from sanctuaries this year, of which Rs 20 crore was distributed to surrounding villages. “This is their right, as they have been living around these sanctuaries for years,” he said. He said homeowners in the buffer zone can run homestays with a government grant of Rs 2-3 lakh, which will boost tourism and employment in Sagar-Bundelkhand.
