Reintroduction of Cheetahs in India
Description
Reintroduction of Cheetahs
Why taken?
Government of India has reintroduced cheetahs, under the 'Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India’. Total 20 Cheetahs from South Africa have been released into Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park. However, since its introduction, 3 Cheetahs and 3 cheetah cubs have died.
About Cheetah
• The cheetah is the world's fastest land animal.
• Cheetahs have a pale yellow coat with black dots on the upper parts, and are white on the underbelly. Their faces are distinguished by prominent, black lines that curve from the inner corner of each eye to the outer corners of the mouth.
• These fierce felines hunt during the day to avoid competition from other powerful predators such as lions, hyenas and leopards.
• Social animals, cheetahs are usually found in groups, consisting of either a mother and her young, siblings or a coalition of males who live and hunt together.
Why Cheetah become extinct in India?
• Cave paintings dating back to the Neolithic age depict the cheetah in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, suggesting that cheetahs were known to be in India from ancient times.
• Except for the Northeastern, coastal, and mountaineous areas, cheetahs were known to prowl across the country, particularly in the Central India.
• Cheetah was domesticated by kings and nobles and were used for coursing and hunting. Unlike the leopard, cheetahs were never known to attack humans and were therefore easy to tame and train.
• Cheetahs were liked by the Mughals and the nobles. As a result, a network to catch and supply cheetahs to the royals developed.
• It was the British rule that saw their hunting as a sport which led to their eventual extinction, along with some other factors such as loss of habitat because of growing human population and pressure of forests with expanding human settlements.
• The cheetah is the only large carnivore to have gone extinct in India, primarily due to hunting and habitat loss. Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Korea, Madhya Pradesh, is widely believed to have killed the last three recorded cheetahs in India in 1947. In 1952, the Indian government officially declared the Cheetah extinct in the country.
Why shifted to Kuno National Park?
• KNP is 748 sq. km. in area, devoid of human settlements, forms part of Sheopur-Shivpuri deciduous open forest landscape and is estimated to have a capacity to sustain 21 cheetahs.
• Kuno is probably the only wildlife site in the country where there has been a complete relocation of villages from inside the park. Kuno also offers the prospect of housing four big cats of India - tiger, lion, leopard and cheetah – and allowing them to coexist as in the past.
Why Cheetah brought from Africa not Iran?
• The locally extinct cheetah-subspecies of India is found in Iran and is categorized as critically endangered. An important consideration during such conservation efforts is that the sourcing of animals should not be detrimental for the survival of the source population. Since it is not possible to source the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah from Iran without affecting this sub-species, India will source cheetahs from Southern Africa, which can provide India with substantial numbers of suitable cheetah for several years.
• Cheetahs from Southern Africa have the maximum observed genetic diversity among extant cheetah lineages, an important attribute for a founding population stock. Moreover, the Southern African cheetahs are found to be ancestral to all the other cheetah lineages including those found in Iran. Hence, this should therefore be ideal (for reasons stated above) for India’s reintroduction programme.
Proposed benefits of Reintroduction
• Cheetahs will help in the restoration of open forest and grassland ecosystems in India.
• This will help conserve biodiversity and enhance the ecosystem services like water security, carbon sequestration and soil moisture conservation, benefiting the society at large.
• It will bring in resources to restore neglected habitats that in turn will conserve their biodiversity, harness their ecosystem services and their ability to sequester carbon to their maximum potential
• It will help boost livelihood of locals and help improve living conditions through ecotourism.
Concerns for the reintroduction of cheetahs
• According to the Experts, cheetahs are likely to stray outside of territory marked for them are likely to be killed by people, dogs, or suffer starvation.
• Ensuring suitable habitats with sufficient prey populations for cheetahs is a challenge. Habitat restoration and connectivity measures need to be implemented to create a favorable environment for cheetahs to thrive.
• Experts have also higlighted that cheetahs will be in an area which is between the areas populated by leopards and tigers. If these bigger cats attack cheetah or compete with it for food, cheetah would struggle for survival as it cannot survive against stronger leopards or tigers.
• Reintroduced cheetah populations should have sufficient genetic diversity to ensure their long-term survival. Careful selection of source populations and appropriate breeding strategies are essential to maintain genetic variability and prevent inbreeding depression.
Conclusion
Engaging local communities, conservation organizations, and government agencies is crucial for the success of a reintroduction program. Their support, involvement, and participation in decision-making processes can address concerns, build awareness, and ensure long-term conservation efforts.
