India, Jan. 26 -- South African government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for translocation of 12 cheetahs to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP), officials said on Wednesday. The South African environment ministry signed the pact days after it was approved by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Kuno had earlier received eight cheetahs --- three male and five female --- from Namibia on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday on September 17. The second tranche of cheetahs is expected to arrive in the country by February-March, taking the total number of big cats from Africa in the national park to 20.

The animal will return to a wild enclosure in India 69 years after the last recorded cheetah was hunted down in Chhattisgarh...