(Bloomberg) -- An initial group of 12 cheetahs will be flown to India from South Africa next month in a bid to re-establish a viable population of the world's fastest land animals in the Asian country.
The group of big cats will join eight that have already arrived from Namibia and the plan is to send a dozen every year for a decade, the South African environment department said in a statement on Thursday. A memorandum of understanding has been signed between the countries, allowing the transfer to take place.
The initiative, requested by India, is aimed at reintroducing “cheetah to a former range state following the local extinction of this iconic species due to over hunting and loss of habitat in the last century,” the department said.
Cheetahs can accelerate to more than 68 miles-per-hour within three seconds in pursuit of prey.
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