Amongst the ten surveyed sites in five central Indian States, Kuno Palpur National Park (KNP) in the State of Madhya Pradesh was rated high on the priority list for considering the introduction of the cheetah because of its suitable habitat and adequate prey base. Additionally, a lot of restorative investment had already been made at this site for introducing the Asiatic lions. Kuno National Park today is 748 km2, which is devoid of any human settlements and forms part of the larger Sheopur-Shivpuri dry deciduous open forest landscape spanning an area of 6,800 km2.
This area which has become a National Park today started out as a sanctuary of about 350 sq. km. It was in the shape of a leaf with the Kuno river forming the main centre spine. Kuno river maintains the water supply in the area and also serves irrigation in the forest from the inside out.
— The project of reintroduction of Asiatic Lions has been ongoing for a while here and one of the preconditions, as raised by concerned authorities about the status of this protected area as a Sanctuary not being worthy of hosting the lions, was upgraded to National Park while adding another about 400 sq km to it and it is now 748 sq km of pristine forest area.
No human settlement
Though chances of conflict with humans are less as cheetahs do not prey on humans or attack large livestock, space is an important aspect for wild cats who are also known as the fastest land animal.
Besides, high population density and depleting open grasslands pose a threat to animals in India.
Kuno is one of the few wildlife sites in the country where there has been a complete relocation of around 24 villages, and their domesticated livestock from inside the park years ago. The village sites and their agricultural fields have been covered by grasses and are managed by savannah habitats.
