Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary
| Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary | |
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IUCN category II (national park)
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 Location of Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary
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| Location | Madhya Pradesh, India |
| Coordinates | 25°30′00″N 77°26′00″E / 25.50000°N 77.43333°ECoordinates: 25°30′00″N 77°26′00″E / 25.50000°N 77.43333°E |
| Area | 900 km2 (350 sq mi) |
| Established | 1981 |
Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary or Palpur-Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary (between latitudes of 25°30'- 25°53'N & longitude of 77°07'-77°26'E) lies in the Sheopur district of north western Madhya Pradesh, a state in central India. It is about 200.0 km (124.3 miles) from Gwalior.
An area of 344.686 square kilometres (34,468.6 ha) was set aside as a wildlife sanctuary in 1981. Since then this has been elevated to the Kuno Wildlife Division with an additional area of 900.0 square kilometres (90,000 ha) as a buffer area around the sanctuary. The park is home to many species of wild animals, including Indian wolves, monkeys, Indian leopards and nilgai.
Feral zebu cattle roam the sanctuary, left behind by the relocated Sahariya tribal herders. The cattle are intended to serve as buffer prey for Asiatic lions, until wild prey populations are revived.
Wildlife Institute of India researchers confirmed that the Palpur-Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary is the most promising location to re-establish a free ranging population of Asiatic lions and certified it ready to receive its first batch of translocated lions from Gir Wildlife Sanctuary where they are highly overpopulated. There are large scale deaths in the population annually because of ever increasing competition due to animal overcrowding. Asiatic lion prides require large territories but there is limited space at Gir wildlife sanctuary, which is boxed in on all sides by heavy human habitation.
The Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary was selected as the reintroduction site for the endangered Asiatic lion because it is in the former range of the lions before it was hunted into extinction in about 1873. It was selected following stringent international criteria and internationally accepted requirements & guidelines developed by IUCN/SSC Reintroduction Specialist Group and IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group which are followed before any reintroduction attempt anywhere in the world.
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