The Marromeu National Reserve received this week four cheetahs from South Africa as part of ambitious efforts to reintroduce these animals to regions where their population has declined. The animals were in quarantine for about a month and have been allowed to travel.

Conservationists say that the Zambezi River delta in Mozambique had a significant cheetah population, which was drastically reduced by rampant poaching and because lions and leopards hunted the cheetahs, smaller animals.

In this week's operation, two adult male and two female cheetahs were tranquilized in Limpopo province, northern South Africa, and were then transported to the Marromeu National Reserve in the Zambezi Delta region.

Speaking to the Associated Press shortly after cheetahs coming to Mozambique were put to sleep with tranquilizer darts and placed in crates, veterinarian Andy Frasier admitted that relocations are difficult for the animals.

"It's a very stressful process, being in a 'boma' (cattle enclosure) environment because they have nowhere to run," Frasier said.

South African conservationists are also preparing to send to India in October another 12 cheetahs, known to be the fastest land mammals in the world.

South Africa's cheetah population is growing at a rate of about 8% a year, allowing the country to move about 30 animals to other game reserves in South Africa and export some to other countries, said Vincent van der Merwe, who heads the Cheetah Metapopulation Initiative.(Lusa/Noam)