IWN Daily Digest — Saturday, 18 April 2026
Four cheetahs from South Africa touched down at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport today, becoming the latest addition to the Bannerghatta Biological Park on the city’s outskirts.
The animals arrived under Karnataka’s International Animal Exchange Programme and were received by the state’s Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre, who directed veterinary staff to monitor their health closely after the long journey. The four will be kept in mandatory quarantine for 30 days before being introduced to the park’s enclosures.
Acclimatisation will be a significant challenge: the cheetahs are moving from South Africa’s open savannah climate to Bengaluru’s humidity, ahead of the monsoon. Veterinary officers will assess them for infections and other health complications in the coming weeks.
The transfer is part of a bilateral agreement through which Karnataka also sent four Asian elephants — three females and one tusker — to the Himeji Safari Park in Japan last July. The state is reportedly expecting further species in exchange through the same programme. According to Greenminute, the state is set to receive additional species through the programme in the coming months.
Bannerghatta is already home to a safari circuit for tigers, lions, and sloth bears. The cheetahs will be among the park’s highest-profile residents and are expected to be on public display once quarantine clears.
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