भारत में नया जत्था लाने के लिए केन्या और अफ्रीकी देश का इजाज़त का इंतजार

Waiting for Kenya and African country to bring new batch to India

The MoU process for bringing a new batch of cheetahs from Kenya is in progress, with India having finalised its part and awaiting approval from the African country, a senior official has said. Cheetahs will also be brought from Kenya for the breeding centre being built in the Banni grasslands of Gujarat, International Big Cat Alliance Director General SP Yadav told PTI editors here recently. As part of the first intercontinental translocation of big cats, so far 20 cheetahs have been brought to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh - eight from Namibia in September 2022 and 12 from South Africa in February 2023. Since their arrival in India, eight adult cheetahs - three females and five males - have died. Seventeen cubs have been born in India, of which 12 survived, taking the total number of cheetahs in Kuno, including the cubs, to 24. Currently, all are in enclosures. The grand initiative completes two years on September 17.

The ‘Action Plan for Reintroduction of Cheetahs in India’ talks of bringing about 12-14 cheetahs every year from South Africa, Namibia and other African countries for five years to establish a founding stock. “The MoU process is in progress. India has finalised its part, and the Kenyan government needs to approve it. After that, the two governments will sign the MoU,” said Yadav, an advisor to the Centre’s Cheetah Project Steering Committee. “Discussions are on with South Africa. It has already identified 12 to 16 surplus cheetahs. They should either give them to another country or kill them. That is the current situation.

In South Africa, animals are kept in sanctuaries based on their carrying capacity. If the population exceeds this capacity, they either export the animals or kill them as they cannot handle the overpopulation, he said. Yadav said cheetahs would also be brought from Kenya for the conservation breeding centre being built in Banni and "winter is the best time to bring them". The Cheetah Conservation Breeding Centre being developed in a 500-hectare enclosure can accommodate up to 16 cheetahs, officials said. Yadav also dismissed reports that a Namibian cheetah named Pawan died of poisoning last month. He clarified that there were no symptoms of poisoning such as salivation or fluid leaking from the nose.

There was no such thing. It is purely speculation," he said. Asked if the cheetahs could have drowned, he said there was heavy rain that night and the naalas (streams) are filled with rocks and stones. "We don't know what happened, but the symptoms suggest that the cheetah died of drowning. There was no other reason. There were no marks on the body. Two doctors conducted the post-mortem and confirmed drowning. There was water in the lungs. It was unfortunate," Yadav said. Asked about the low prey base in Kuno National Park and Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, he said, "The number of cheetahs in the wild will depend entirely on the prey population. If the prey population cannot sustain them, we will not release any more cheetahs. It is within our control." Yadav said the Kuno staff will give prophylactic medication to cheetahs in the wild through tranquillisers. If they fail, "there is no option but to recapture the animals." Due to differences in circadian rhythms between the northern and southern hemispheres, some cheetahs developed thick winter coats in anticipation of the African winter (June to September) during the Indian summer and monsoon last year, he said. Three of these cheetahs - a Namibian female and two South African males - died because of wounds on their backs and necks, maggots and blood infections under their winter skins. Asked about the secrecy surrounding Project Cheetah, Yadav said the perception of secrecy was misleading. "The introduction of the cheetah has attracted unprecedented media attention - more than any other animal conservation effort before it. "No country, not even the developed ones, has dared to try something like this. If you look at the Western media, it is hard for them to believe that India can do this," he said. On the progress of Project Cheetah, Yadav said that when South Africa lost its entire cheetah population, they imported the animal from Namibia, and it took them 20 years to establish a viable population. "In India, we lost all the tigers in Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan in 2005. It took about 15 years to re-establish a stable population there. "It takes time; it is not instant coffee.