Omicron derails India's bid to bring cheetah out of extinction

The country's most ambitious wildlife project of reintroducing cheetahs in India remains in limbo. The Cheetah reintroduction plan in India has been long-pending. India is to reintroduce cheetahs by translocating ten pairs of feline from South Africa to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park in Sheopur district. For this, a team of Madhya Pradesh forest officials were to go to South Africa in December this year for training on cheetah management. After the training, the cheetahs were to be brought to 'Hindustan ka Dil'. 

Madhya Pradesh already wears the crown of being the tiger state and the leopard state of India; cheetahs would have added another jewel to the crown. However, thanks to Omicron -- the new variant of Covid-19 -- the project that had been lying in limbo for at least a decade has again been pushed forward for an indefinite period. 

In July this year, Madhya Pradesh Forest Minister Vijay Shah announced that at least ten pairs of cheetah (total 20 cheetahs -- 10 male and female each) would come to the state. A senior forest official, on the condition of anonymity, told Asianet Newsable that there remains no clarity as to when the big cats would be brought to their new home. 

Speaking to this reporter, he said, "Our officials were to visit South Africa for a training programme on cheetah management, after which the big cats would have been brought here. However, the team could not leave because of the new variant and an international travel ban."

Previously, the cheetahs were expected to be brought here by early next year. But now, that looks unlikely. "Cheetahs went extinct in India nearly seven decades ago. We have experience with tigers, Asiatic lions and leopards, but we do not have any experience in cheetah management. Therefore, it is important for our officials to understand the big cat and its management before they are released in Indian jungles," said the source.

Not just a team of the state forest officials, but a national team was also expected to go to South Africa. The national team comprises select members from the National Tiger Conservation Authority, Wildlife Institute of India, and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change representatives. The official said that the two teams were earlier expected to leave separately, but there are chances that "both national and state forest teams would leave together for South Africa".

So, when can the cheetahs be expected to arrive here? To this, he said, "There remains no clarity on this. Once the international ban is lifted, the teams can only leave for their training. And cheetahs cannot to reintroduced until and unless the teams undergo thorough training on it."

Last year, in November and December, the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, assessed six locations chosen for cheetah reintroduction. Of these, four are in Madhya Pradesh -- Kuno, Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary in Damoh district, Madhav National Park in Shivpuri district and Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Mandsaur district. The other two locations for the reintroduction are Rajasthan's Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve and Shergarh Wildlife Sanctuary. In its assessment report, the WII deemed Kuno as "ready for the reintroduction of the cheetah with minimum actions required".

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Why Kuno for the cheetahs? Kuno has been regularly monitored since 2006 for the inter-state translocation of Asiatic lions from Gir, Gujarat. However, that project too is still pending. The national park was chosen for the feline due to many factors such as landscapes and prey base.

The financial aspect of the project

Explaining the project's financial aspects, the officer said, "Approximately 60 per cent of the finances would be coming in from the Centre while the rest has to be managed by the state government(s). While the other five locations still need financial investment, Kuno is fully prepared and requires the least investment." 

While launching the project's mascot -- 'Chintu Cheetah' -- in Bhopal this year, Forest Minister Shah had said that the cost of maintaining 20 cheetahs had been pegged at roughly around Rs 75 crore.

Reintroduction to be done in phases

The ten cheetah pairs would not be brought in one ago. Instead, the big cats would be introduced in phases. At first, they would be put in enclosures, and only after they acclimatise to their environment would they be released into the wild.

The reintroduction project will put India on a world map. It is an international translocation project which will have the world's eyes on the country. Once the cheetahs are reintroduced, it will also help increase wildlife tourism in the country, boasting of five big cats -- Bengal tiger, Asiatic lion, leopard, snow leopard and cheetah.

India was to bring Iranian cheetahs first 

Before the African cheetahs, the Asiatic cheetahs of Iran were to be brought to India. The Iranians had also agreed upon sending the cheetahs but on an exchange condition of India's Asiatic lions. India, however, was not willing to let go of its lions which are only found in Gujarat.

India was once home to Asiatic Cheetahs, which were found in abundance here. But now, it will be bringing African cheetahs. There are quite a few differences between the African and Asiatic Cheetahs. One of the most prominent differences is that of their appearance. The Asiatic Cheetahs are smaller, paler, have more fur and red eyes, apart from not being able to run faster than African Cheetahs. While the Asiatic ones look more like cats in appearance, the African Cheetahs look like a panther. Despite the physical differences, the DNA of African Cheetahs matches up to 85% to that of the Asiatic ones.

India's Wildlife Protection Act was enforced only in 1972, before which hunting was legal in the country and was considered a royals' game. India had its last three cheetahs left in undivided Madhya Pradesh, which were shot down by Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Sarguja (now in Chhattisgarh) in 1947. Soon after that, in 1952, the mammal was declared extinct, becoming the only big mammal in India to be declared extinct.

Timeline of events

2010 NTCA filed a plea with the Supreme Court to seek permission for cheetah reintroduction.

2013 The Apex Court declined the plea calling it (Cheetah) a 'foreign species'.

February 2019 The tiger conservation body, NTCA, told the apex court that cheetahs could be reintroduced in Madhya Pradesh's Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary, adding that the International Union for Conservation of Nature had no objection to the project.

August 2019 A bench comprising Justice SA Bobde (retired CJI) and Justice BR Gavai had raised questions over Cheetahs' survival, to which NTCA, through its advocate Wasim Qadri said that Nauradehi already had the presence of tigers and leopards.

January 2020 Supreme Court gives its final nod for the cheetah reintroduction in India.

October 2020 Kuno was shortlisted as one of the six locations for cheetah reintroduction.

November 2020 WII began its survey of all the shortlisted sites.

January 2021 Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan chaired a meeting and was told that Kuno is the ideal place for the cheetahs.

March 2021 WII began its detailed survey in Kuno.

July 2021 Forest minister Vijay Shah announced that cheetahs would be brought to Madhya Pradesh.

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