One Year of Project Cheetah: Progress and Challenges in India’s Cheetah Reintroduction Effort

GS Paper III Environment and Ecology Geography

Context:

One year after the initiation of Project Cheetah, India’s attempt to reintroduce African cheetahs into the country’s wild, has reported significant accomplishments.

Project Cheetah: Milestones Achieved in Conservation and Local Community Engagement

The Project Cheetah has achieved short-term success on four counts:
- 50% survival of introduced cheetahs
- Establishment of home ranges
- Birth of cubs in Kuno
- Revenue generation for local communities

About Project Cheetah: The Government of India launched it to bring back Cheetahs to India.

Cheetahs were declared extinct in India in 1952.
Implementing Body: National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment.
Objective: The Indian government hopes to bring 50 cheetahs from African countries to various national parks over the next five years.
Currently, a total of 20 radio collared Cheetahs were brought from Namibia and South Africa to Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh, in a first ever transcontinental wild to wild translocation i.e Africa to Asia.
IUCN status: Asiatic Cheetah is critically Endangered whereas African cheetah is Vulnerable

Assessing Project Cheetah: Achievements and Challenges in Conservation Efforts

Survival of Cheetah: According to India’s official Cheetah Action Plan, the eight cheetah imports from Namibia should have spent a cumulative 75 ‘cheetah months’ in the wild.
- However, in reality, they spent just about 16 ‘cheetah months’ outside the bomas (Chart).
- Yet, the project lost 40% of its functional adult population.
Establishment of home ranges: Fewer than four cheetahs have stayed continuously in the wild for more than three months.
- It is improbable that any of these cats would have formed “home ranges” in Kuno.
Reproduction: The goal, as per the Action Plan, was successful Cheetah reproduction in the wild.
- However, the Namibian female that gave birth to four cubs in Kuno, was captive raised herself.

Project Cheetah

Livelihood: The project has generated a number of jobs and contracts for the local communities, and the price of land has appreciated significantly around Kuno.
- No human-cheetah conflict has been reported in the area.

News Source: Indian Express