MP Got Cheetahs From Namibia, But Still Can't Get Lions From Gujarat, Even After A 2013 SC Order

The arrival of African Cheetahs to India last week has been celebrated like a massive festival.

The eight cheetahs that were brought from Namibia were released into Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Twitter/@thekuno_park

Kuno could have been home to cheetah, leopard, tiger and lion

With their reintroduction, Kuno has the rare distinction of having three big cat species - tiger, leopard, and cheetahs.

Though there are no resident tigers in KNP, at least one striped big cat has been spotted there in the past, after possibly straying from Ranthambore.

But KNP had the chance to be the only forest in the world with four big cat species - the missing piece of the puzzle being the lion.

KNP was to become second home of lions

Long before African cheetahs were introduced to KNP, which government calls reintroduction, it was chosen as the second home of lions in India.

AP

But sadly it has not happened yet as neighbouring Gujarat which takes pride in being the lion state refuses to give them away.

Why Asiatic lions need a home outside Gir

The Gir forest in Gujarat is the only remaining home of the Asiatic lion, and there have been growing calls to find a second home for them to ensure that the species that was almost wiped out has a better chance to survive.

bccl/ file

While the lion population is not under threat in Gir and their numbers in the wild have only grown in recent years, thanks to the conservation efforts, they are still vulnerable.

Conservationists have pointed out that even a localised epidemic outbreak or a natural calamity in Gir can drive the Asiatic lions to extinction.

Citing this, back in April 2013, the Supreme Court had ordered Gujarat to shift some lions to Kuno National Park within six months.

BCCL

A search that started in 1993

The first time a proposal was made to identify a second home for Asiatic lions was in 1993, but it never materialised due to the lack of agreement between the Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh governments.

The matter reached the Supreme Court in 2008 and after a lot of back-and-forth deliberations, the SC made it clear to Gujarat in April 2013 that they will have to relocate some lions to KNP and it was to be done in six months.

Interestingly, in the same order, the SC had rejected the proposal to introduce cheetahs into KNP.

Ever since KNP was first identified as the second home for lions in 1993, the Madhya Pradesh government had cleared more than 1,500 families living in 25 villages were relocated to make space for them.

BCCL

But nine years down the line, KNP has not received any lions and now with it becoming the new home of the Cheetahs, it is unlikely that it will ever happen.

That is because KNP which has an area of 344.686 sq km already has one of the biggest populations of leopards and apart from tigers.

With the introduction of cheetahs into the mix, whose number will grow to 25 in the coming days, and the government overwhelmingly prioritising them the second home for lions will have to wait.

A costly mistake?

The failure to relocate lions to KNP almost proved costly in 2018 when an outbreak of canine distemper virus (CDV) killed more than 30 lions in Gir.

The virus resurfaced in 2020 and at least 85 lions were killed.

Earlier this year, the Gujarat government had said that Gir lost 283 lions in 2 years due to natural and unnatural causes, and CDV has been blamed for the increase in deaths.

Reuters

CDV which spreads from dogs in the wild had killed around 1,000 lions in Tanzania¡¯s Serengeti National Park in 1994, which was one-third of the big cat population there.

A similar outbreak could have wiped out the lion population in Gir.

BCCL

Lions still wait for a second home

Now that KNP has become the home for cheetahs, Asiatic lions are still looking for a new home.

A total of six alternative locations including Madhav National Park and Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh, Sitamata Wildlife Sanctuary, Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary and Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan and Jessore-Balaram Ambaji Wildlife Sanctuary and adjoining landscape in Gujarat have been suggested as the second home for lions.

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