Madhya Pradesh’s Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve in Sagar district has become the third home for cheetahs in the state. On Wednesday, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav released two cheetahs into the reserve. They include a male cheetah named Vyom and a female named Neera.
Kuno National Park was the first site in Madhya Pradesh where cheetahs were introduced, followed by Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, which was developed as the state’s second cheetah habitat.
On the occasion, Yadav said the state government was ensuring that local villagers receive a share of the income generated from tourism in areas where wildlife sanctuaries attract visitors. Around ₹80 crore has been collected from the state’s wildlife sanctuaries this year, of which ₹20 crore has been distributed among villagers living in surrounding areas.
He said this was the villagers’ rightful share as they had been living in villages and homes around the sanctuaries for years.
Yadav said the Cabinet would make necessary amendments to ensure that, apart from small farmers, larger landholders with more land who are currently excluded from the benefits for various reasons also receive their due share.
Subsidy for homestays
The chief minister said homestays were being developed in villages located in buffer zones. Villagers can build one, two or three rooms in their homes and rent them out to tourists as homestays. The government will provide a subsidy of up to ₹2–3 lakh to such villagers to help them join the tourism sector and increase their income.
He said the government was working to establish better coordination between the needs of local villagers and tourism development so that the benefits of wildlife sanctuaries and tourism reach the people living in these areas first.
At the concluding ceremony of Wildlife Conservation Week held on the occasion, Yadav released the Vulture Population Assessment-2026 report. According to the report, the vulture population in Madhya Pradesh has recorded a 123 per cent increase. Yadav described the rise as a success of the effective measures being taken for wildlife conservation.
