Extinct Cheetahs likely to roar in Kuno National Park in August

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Cheetah, the fastest animal on land, will be reintroduced in India nearly 70 years after being declared extinct in 1952. It is believed that the last species of Asiatic cheetah found in India was hunted down by Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo in Koriya, Chattisgarh in 1947.

Reportedly, a team of experts from South Africa will be arriving in India on June 15, and visit Madhya Pradesh-based Kuno National Park to oversee the arrangements for the translocation. A senior Ministry official reportedly announced on Tuesday that a batch of cheetahs will be translocated from South Africa to India in August this year after delays caused due to the Covid pandemic.

Earlier in November 2021, according to State Forest Minister, Vijay Shah, African Cheetah from South Africa was expected to be reintroduced in Kuno National Park. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) had laid plans for the reintroduction and also received the nod of the Supreme Court. However, the Covid19 pandemic slowed things down.

According to the Senior official in the Environment Ministry, all the modalities for bringing the Cheetah have been completed and the agreement with South Africa is in place. However, the final clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs is awaited. Furthermore, one of our teams is currently in South Africa.

Project Cheetah

‘Project Cheetah’ aims at the reintroduction and re-establishment of the population of cheetahs in the country. It involves the identification and restoration of the habitat where cheetahs once existed. The purpose of the reintroduction of cheetahs, the large carnivores, is to conserve the threatened species and restore ecosystem functions.

The initial steps to restore the cheetah population started with a meeting of global experts at Gajner in September 2009. According to their study, Kuno Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary was rated high on the priority list for the reintroduction of the cheetah.

On January 5, 2022 in the 19th Meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), chaired by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, an Action Plan regarding the introduction of Cheetah in India was released.

About Kuno National Park

The Kuno Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary is part of the Sheopur-Shivpuri forested landscape. The sanctuary was upgraded into a national park in 2018 and lies within the larger Kuno Wildlife Division which has a total area of 1235 sq. km. The capacity of the protected area was estimated to sustain 27 cheetahs, which could be expanded to over 32 by the introduction of more forest areas to the Kuno Sanctuary.

A lot of restorative work was already done in the park due to the reintroduction of Asiatic lions here, which would add to the restoration of the cheetah population. The project has been allocated Rs 1,400 lakh in the previous fiscal year by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

Habitat requirement

According to Shah, the process of creating a natural habitat for cheetahs has been started. Cheetah needs a habitat that is natural and has the availability of prey, water source, and open space.

Last Year, Prakash Kumar Verma from Kuno National Park told PBNS, that Kuno National Park has the habitat required for cheetahs to flourish. He also informed PBNS that around 8 cheetahs will be brought to the park. Initially, they will be kept in an enclosed area and after they have adjusted well to their new environment, they will be released in the open wild.

The park has a considerable population of wild boars, four-horned antelopes, chinkara, nilgai, wild boar, sambar, spotted deer, blackbuck, striped hyena, jackals, and more.

Competition for food?

Among the other cat populations found in the Kuno National Park, leopards can pose a competition to cheetahs in the food chain. However, according to Verma, even though there will be competition between the two species, it will be an indirect one.

Leopards live in dense bush and wooded koppies while cheetahs live in open savanna. There is a difference in their hunting habits as well. Leopards ambush or stalk their prey, lurk on the trees, pouncing when the prey is close enough. On the other hand, cheetahs stalk prey, and sprint after their prey in grassland.

Cheetahs feed on antelopes, deer rabbits, wild boars, and other small to medium size ungulates, while leopards feed on baboons, sambar, and other large animals.