Report by Drishti Baheti
The Asiatic Cheetah was declared extinct in India in 1952. Today, only a few of these cheetah remain in Iran.
Its cousin, the African cheetah, however, is more prevalant in several parts of Africa. While the African cheetah also falls under the Vulnerable category in the IUCN Red List, it is not as endangered.
India has three of the four “big cat” species. It is the only country to have this honour. India is also the only country to have both lions and tigers. Cheetah is the only missing Big Cat.
To fill this gap, the Government of India created a program to re-introduce the African Cheetah to India.
Conservationists and Zoologists were empanelled to create a plan for this movement.
A total of 20 cheetahs were relocated to India in the last year. Eight of them were brought from Namibia in September 2022. These included five females and three males. The other twelve cheetahs were brought from South Africa in February 2023. This group consisted of seven males and five females.
To ensure safe release, these cheetahs were kept in quarantine for 30 days and were later shifted to a 5 sq. km area compartment inside the Kuno National Park. After this, they were introduced to the national park.
Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh was selected for this project. This was because the climatic conditions and the space here was thought to be conducive to the growth of the Cheetah population.
However, the project has not gone as planned.
Shasha was the first one to die on March 27th. She was a 5-year-old Namibian Cheetah who was part of the 5 females brought to India in the first batch of cheetahs flown to Kuno National Park. She died due to a kidney infection.
The second cheetah was six-year-old Uday. He was one of twelve cheetahs flown into the country in February. At the daily check-up, Uday appeared lethargic and was limping, His first round of treatment was done at 11 am after which he was taken out from the large enclosure. Uday died 5 hours later at 4 pm on April 24th.
The third cheetah Daksha died on May 9th during a confrontation with 2 male cheetahs identified as Agni and Vayu, also known as the white walkers.
During this time, a cheetah called Jwala had given birth to cubs. This was a positive development. Unfortunately, the heat in Madhya Pradesh was not favourable for the cubs and they were lethargic. These three cubs passed away.
The seventh cheetah Tejas died on July 13th due to engaging in a fight. He was severely injured and could not recover even after treatment. An after-death checkup also reported that he was internally weak due to an infection in his lungs and kidney.
The eighth cheetah to die in Kuno National Park was Suraj. He died a natural death on 15th July 3 days after the death of Tejas.
On 17th July, Mr. J S Chauhan, the Chief Wildlife Warden of Madhya Pradesh, was removed from his post. Shri Asim Srivastava, a 1988 batch IFS officer, will take over.
On 19th July, a high level meeting was held in Delhi under the chairpersonship of the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, to understand these deaths and take preventive action. A special team from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) will also work with field officials to monitor the health of the cheetahs.
Now, out of 20 adult cheetahs relocated to India, 15 remain.
Out of the 4 cubs born in India, one has survived.