India, Feb. 28 -- Nine cheetahs from the Southern African country of Botswana were released on Saturday into Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur, taking their number there to 45 apart from three in the Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary in the central Indian state's Chenpuriya.

"It marks the beginning of a historic partnership between Botswana and India in the field of biodiversity conservation," said Union environment, forest and climate change minister Bhupender Yadav, who released the cheetahs into special quarantine at the park after they were airlifted from Gwalior on three Indian Air Force helicopters.

Yadav said the cheetah reintroduction programme was successfully implemented under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's special initiativ...