After 70 years since extinction, Cheetahs are once again being brought to Indian lands
It is for the first time in world history that the ferocious carnivores are being moved from one continent to another. B747 Jumbo, an especially customized tiger-faced jet was sent to Namibia to bring home eight Cheetahs including five females and three males. The aircraft is painted with the face of a tiger and is designed to accommodate the cheetahs in special cages. The plane is to land in Jaipur and from there the cheetah will be taken to Kuno National Park of Madhya Pradesh on September 17.
The reintroduction is a part of the government’s 90-crore Project Cheetah and is known to be one of the world’s biggest intercontinental translocation projects. Prime minister Narendra Modi set three of the eight cheetahs free that arrived in India, on his birthday on September 17. The cheetahs were under the supervision of vets and all the arrangements for a smooth flight were made. The animals were not to eat anything in their air transit period. All the necessary precautions were taken to ensure a safe journey.
Union minister Bhupendra Yadav at the 19th meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) said that the government is planning to bring 50 cheetahs to India over the 5 years. The plan was set to launch in 2021 but got halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Indian government is collaborating with Namibia and South African governments to bring the plan into action. Conservationists, on the other hand, are claiming that the project is a bad idea as India does not have suitable habitat for the survival of the species and they believe that conserving other threatened species such as The Great Indian Bustard should be the main priority of the government.
The wildlife trust of India initiated the efforts to reintroduce cheetahs in India in 2009. Site surveys were conducted to identify the potential sites for the reintroduction.
The Supreme court in 2013 emphasized that Kuno National park is not the natural habitat of the African cheetahs and that scientific studies should be carried out to check the viability of the location.
However, in 2020, SC allowed the reintroduction of African cheetahs in Kuno National Park of Madhya Pradesh on an experimental basis.
Summing up
With the killing of the last cheetah in Chhattisgarh in 1947, the Indian government officially declared the cheetah an extinct species in 1952. Cheetahs were extensively killed and slaughtered for their skin. Grasslands and forests were cleared for construction and agriculture leading to the loss of habitat.
According to Wikipedia, it is the only animal in recorded history to become extinct in India due to non-environmental causes.
With this project, the government is trying to reintroduce the wild species to Indian lands.
