In News:
- Over 70 years after it went extinct in India, the cheetah will return to the country on September 17.
- Eight African cheetahs from Namibia — five females and three males between the ages of 4-6 years — will be flown to India.
- They will be released in the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh as part of India’s Rs 90-crore Cheetah Introduction project.
- This is the first time in the world that a large carnivore will be relocated from one continent to another.
What’s in today’s article:
News Summary
Cheetah in India
- The cheetah has an ancient history in the country, with a Neolithic cave painting of a ‘slender spotted feline being hunted’ having been found at Chaturbunj Nala in Mandasur, Madhya Pradesh.
- In India, the cheetah population used to be fairly widespread. The animal was found from Jaipur and Lucknow in the north to Mysore in the south, and from Kathiawar in the west to Deogarh in the east.
- The cheetah is believed to have disappeared from the Indian landscape in 1947 when Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Koriya princely state hunted down and shot the last three recorded Asiatic cheetahs in India.
- The cheetah was officially declared extinct by the Indian government in 1952.
- Since the 1940s, the cheetah has gone extinct in 14 other countries – Jordan, Iraq, Israel, Morocco, Syria, Oman, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Ghana, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
How did cheetahs go extinct in India?
- Over-hunting was a major contributing factor for the cheetah’s extinction.
- The decimation (killing) of its relatively narrow prey base species and the loss of its grassland-forest habitat also played a role.
- India’s emphasis on agriculture – which included acquiring and parcelling off grassland – led to a decline in the cheetah’s habitat.
Why is the cheetah being brought back?
- The main aim is to restore India’s historic evolutionary balance.
- This translocation also aims to develop a cheetah ‘metapopulation’ that will help in the global conservation of the animal.
- As it is a flagship species, the conservation of the cheetah will revive grassland-forests and its biome and habitat.
- Project Tiger has also resulted in the conservation of 250 water bodies found in India’s 52 Tiger Reserves. The Cheetah Project is likely to have a similar impact.
Earlier attempts to bring back the cheetah
- India’s first attempt to bring back the cheetah was in the early 1970s. Dr Ranjitsinh was tasked with carrying out negotiations with Iran.
- However, it could not lead to the translocation of Cheetahs due to following reasons:
- Potential release sites in India needed to be upgraded with an increase in prey base and greater protection.
- During the process, Emergency was declared in the country and soon after, the regime of the Shah of Iran fell.
- While the Persian Cheetah was preferred for relocation, as it was Asiatic, this is no longer possible as the cheetah population in Iran has dwindled to under 50.
- While attempts to relocate cheetahs to India began in 2009, it was only in 2020 that the Supreme Court of India finally gave the green signal for such efforts.
Associated Concerns
- Critics of the project have pointed out that the gene flow in such a small group of cheetahs is a matter of concern.
- Gene flow between populations can help maintain genetic diversity and prevent inbreeding (parent and offspring, full brother and sister or half brother and sister).
- However, experts point out that South Africa has already undertaken similar projects within the continent, in which measures are taken to ensure gene flow.
- India is expected to follow the same.
- Over the next five to 10 years, 5-10 cheetahs will be relocated to India annually.
- From time to time, some of these cheetahs from India will be brought back, and taking some others there. This will ensure the proper gene flow.
- Ministry officials, meanwhile, pointed out that even if this movement does not take place, gene flow is unlikely to be a problem in India because of the country’s animal corridors that allow animals to move around.
Future plans to increase cheetah population in India
- Over the coming 15 years, the Indian government will acquire two to four cheetahs from Africa, to establish a breeding cheetah metapopulation of 35-40 in the country.
- Once the population in Kuno National Park has adapted and is flourishing, the Indian government will expand the efforts to reserves in other parts of the country as well.
