India says other African cheetahs well after two deaths

FILE PHOTO: A cheetah looks on after being sedated, before being flown with eleven others from South Africa to India under an agreement between the two governments to introduce the African cats to the South Asian country over the next decade, at Rooiberg veterinary facility, Limpopo province, South Africa, February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo

Two of 20 cheetahs brought from southern Africa to India to re-establish the species in the country have died this year but the rest are well, the government said on Monday, although it said the unprecedented project had its challenges.

The cheetahs were moved to central India's Kuno National Park in September and February in the initial phase of a plan to revive the species that disappeared from the country 70 years ago.