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India Formalises Pact With Namibia To Bring Back Cheetahs 70 Years After Extinction

The world's fastest land animal is set to return to India.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>A cheetah at a game reserve in South Africa. (Source: Unsplash)</p></div>
A cheetah at a game reserve in South Africa. (Source: Unsplash)

The world's fastest land animal is set to return to India with the central government finalising a pact with Namibia for the reintroduction of the cheetah.

India signed a memorandum of understanding with the Republic of Namibia to promote wildlife conservation and sustainable biodiversity utilisation, according to a Press Information Bureau statement. The restoration of cheetahs in their former range areas in India will be one of the key thrust areas of the pact.

The MoU marks the fructification of multidecadal efforts by India, across governments, to reintroduce the species that was declared extinct in 1952. This will also be the first time a large carnivore will be translocated from one continent to another.

The Asiatic cheetah of India went extinct mainly due to large-scale capture of animals for coursing, bounty, sport hunting, and loss of its habitats.

Under India's action plan for the project, about 10-12 African cheetahs will be transferred to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park. The wildlife sanctuary has been identified as the most suitable in terms of climatic and habitat conditions for African cheetahs in India. The first phase of the project will see a spending of Rs 39 crore over five years.

Another reason for choosing Kuno National Park for receiving the cheetahs was that the protected area had already made investments for the reintroduction of the Asiatic lions, the action plan said. Kuno has a maximum carrying capacity for 21 cheetahs, and if restored, the landscape can hold up to 36.

The project will be overseen by the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the environment ministry under direction from the Supreme Court.

If a successful reintroduction is demonstrated, then cheetah introduction will be considered within parts of other states such as Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>A cheetah and her cub walk on the plains in Masai Mara game reserve. (REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya)<br></p></div>

A cheetah and her cub walk on the plains in Masai Mara game reserve. (REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya)

That said, it is important for the project needs to have scientific rather than just ornamental value, according to conservation biologist and author Neha Sinha.

Cheetahs are a grassland and scrub land species, and those two are among the most threatened habitats in India, Sinha said. "We have existing grasslands that have no protection and cheetahs should be used as an ambassador to secure these places."

"Instead, they are being brought into an already protected area that is quite small for an animal that can have a home range of approximately 200 square kilometres," she said "Are we going to allow the cheetah to disperse from Kuno to other grasslands? It doesn't appear so. A closed or fenced safari is no use for conservation in this instance. It's mostly just a showpiece."

The Cheetah project will be worthy only if we use it to save hitherto unsaved areas.
Neha Sinha, Conservation Biologist & Author
<div class="paragraphs"><p>A cheetah and its cub in Tanzania. (Source: Unsplash)</p></div>

A cheetah and its cub in Tanzania. (Source: Unsplash)

India's tryst with trying to bring back the cheetah goes back to the 1970s when the erstwhile Department of Environment was in talks with the Iran government to bring back the Asiatic cheetahs, which are now only surviving in Iran. Talks were stalled after the Shah of Iran was deposed in the Iranian Revolution.

Former Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had rekindled talks in 2009 but Iran had too few cheetahs to send to India. The same year, the Wildlife Institute of India recommended sourcing cheetahs from Africa, a different sub-species.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority first filed a plea in 2010 with the Supreme Court to allow the introduction of African cheetahs to India. The plea was shot down in 2013 as the top court deemed the African cheetah to be an alien species to India and cited the lack of any scientific basis for the reintroduction.

Later in 2020, the court allowed cheetahs to be translocated as part of a pilot project to find out if it can adapt in India. A three-member committee was formed to guide the NTCA on the issue.

According to Sinha, bringing back the African cheetah shouldn't have an impact on native big cats or other smaller predators. "Translocations in itself are not a problem," she said. "We have already translocated gaur, rhinos, tigers, and deer."

However, she said that such a project should not come at the cost of protecting existing wildlife species that are native to India and in need of urgent conservation.