After Six Deaths In Two Months, New High-Power Committee To Review And Oversee Project Cheetah
At a time when questions are being raised about the future of the Cheetah reintroduction programme in India, the Union government has set up a new committee to oversee and review Project Cheetah.
The 11-member committee will be headed by Rajesh Gopal, Secretary General of Global Tiger Forum.
Who are the committee?members?
Other members of the panel are RN Mehrotra, former principal chief conservator of forest of Rajasthan; PR Sinha, former director of the Wildlife Institute of India; HS Negi, former APCCF, Wildlife; and PK Malik, former faculty at WII, GS Rawat, former dean of the WII; Mittal Patel, an Ahmedabad-based social worker; Qamar Qureshi, WII scientist and Inspector General of NTCA; and the MP's Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Wildlife, and Chief Wildlife Warden.
A consulting panel of international cheetah experts, including Adrian Tordiffe, Veterinary Wildlife Specialist, University of Pretoria, South Africa; Laurie Marker, Cheetah Conservation Fund, Namibia; Andrew John Fraser, Farm Olivenbosch, South Africa and Vincent van dan Merwe, Manager, Cheetah Metapopulation Project, South Africa, will provide advice as and when required.
Eco-tourism, community involvement and more
Earlier, the government had told the Supreme Court that there are no Cheetah experts in India as the spices became extinct in the county seven decades ago.
The new committee will be tasked with providing suggestions on the opening of the cheetah habitat in KNP for eco-tourism and community involvement in Project Cheetah, among others.
Project Cheetah
In September, the first batch of eight Namibian Cheetahs was brought to India, followed by twelve more from South Africa in February.
The high ambitions and unprecedented trans-continental Cheetah reintroduction project was going well, and it seemed like the big cats had adjusted to their new home.
But in March, the first major blow came in the form of Sasha, a female Namibian Cheetah who died due to a?pre-existing kidney ailment.
While the authorities tried to play it down and cheered the news of the birth of four Cheetah cubs, the first in India in over seven decades, the optimism didn't last long.
Uday, a male Cheetah from South Africa, died in April, followed by Daksha, another female, in May.
Three of the four Cheetah cubs that were born in March also died this week, two days apart, ringing alarm bells to many.
Search for second home for Cheetahs
Several experts and even the Supreme Court have expressed concerns over the lack of space and logistical support at Kuno Park and have suggested shifting cheetahs to other sanctuaries.
In April, the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department had written a letter to the National Tiger Conservation Authority, requesting an "alternative" site for the cheetahs at Kuno.
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