Explained: Why The Plan Of Introducing African Cheetahs To India Is Not All Hunky-Dory?

Our focus has been diverted from other urgent and crucial conservation objectives by the introduction of cheetahs from southern Africa to India. The April 2013 Supreme Court injunction to translocate lions within six months was violated by the choice to release them in Kuno National Park, which has been prepared for translocating Asiatic lions for the past 20 years.

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The 2013 order also mentioned: ¡°The decision taken by MoEF [Ministry of Environment and Forest] for introduction of African cheetahs first to Kuno and then Asiatic lion, is arbitrary, an illegal and clear violation of the statutory requirements provided under the Wildlife Protection Act. The order of MoEF to introduce African cheetahs into Kuno cannot stand in the eye of Law and the same is quashed.¡±

The conception

Over ten years have passed since the conception of the scheme to transport cheetahs from Southern Africa to India. The Indian government started talks with Iran in the 1970s before the current initiatives. In exchange for a few Asiatic lions that Iran had lost due to extinction, India was supposed to provide Iran several wild Asiatic cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus), which had been extinct in India since 1952. This attempt at big cat diplomacy came to a stop as a result of the turbulent political circumstances that resulted in the overthrow of the Iranian Shah in 1979.

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In 2009, there was renewed interest in importing cheetahs to India, and efforts to import African cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa were under way. On September 9 and 10, 2009, a consultation gathering was held in Gajner, Rajasthan. Experts from India, South Africa, Namibia, and other countries attended, as well as managers and conservationists. In this conference, it was decided to examine a number of potential cheetah introduction sites in western and central India.

How was Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary selected?

According to a report that was released in 2010 based on field research, cheetahs may be brought to the Madhya Pradesh wildlife refuges Kuno-Palpur, Shahgarh Landscape, and Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary. According to this research, all three sites needed to prepare and provide resources before an introduction campaign could start. For this initiative to be implemented successfully, the federal and state governments have to demonstrate a long-term commitment of political will, funds, and personnel.

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When the Supreme Court of India's Forest Bench heard the lion translocation case in 2012, the learned counsel for the state of Gujarat raised the possibility of introducing cheetahs to Kuno. The Indian government should first introduce cheetahs to Kuno and give the species time to establish itself before executing lion translocation, Gujarat was arguing. All of this would have taken several years, if not a decade or more. This was obviously an effort to further delay the lion relocation, which India has prioritised for conservation since the early 1950s in order to develop a second free-ranging population to the one at Gir. The Forest Bench more than saw through the argument of Gujarat and quashed the plans to introduce the cheetahs in Kuno.

Recent developments

In January 2020, the Supreme Court approved the experimental introduction of cheetahs following additional fieldwork and under very regulated circumstances. This made it possible for the authorities to advance the effort to introduce cheetahs while disregarding lion translocation. This is true even if illnesses like the lethal canine distemper virus, which has the potential to wipe out wild Asiatic lions, continue to claim the lives of lions.

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The officially stated goal of this project is: ¡°Establish viable cheetah meta-population in India that allows the cheetah to perform its functional role as a top predator and provides space for the expansion of the cheetah within its historical range thereby contributing to its global conservation efforts.¡±

Issues attached with the plan

However, this objective is not well served by the Action Plan that was unveiled in January 2022 to introduce the cheetah to India. Only Kuno is listed as the introduction's location, and only 36 cheetahs are thought to be able to survive in Kuno National Park and the surrounding area. The introduced cheetah population is unlikely to be self-sustaining.

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Tragically, after using an unreasonable amount of resources, this would resemble a glorified safari park. Only a small number of cheetahs are expected to exist after 15 years at a few locations that will need intensive management, which would be costly. Such a small number of cats at very few sites cannot meet the stated goal of performing its ecological function at any significant scale.

According to experts, this effort to acquire African cheetahs is neither based on science nor a top priority for national conservation. Unfortunately, this will seriously divert attention away from conservation problems that are more urgent, including the long-delayed lion transfer.

Thus, as of now, the conservation and scientific communities are currently split on whether transporting cheetahs from Africa is necessary or just a "vanity project,