NEW DELHI: The Union Minister of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Bhupendra Yadav has termed the Cheetah project a success despite some initial setbacks such as the deaths of a few cheetahs in Kuno-Palpur National Park.
India is set to bring another batch of cheetahs to Gandhi Sagar National Park in Madhya Pradesh in the coming months.
“Unfortunate weather and climatic conditions led to the deaths of some cheetahs and cubs but overall cheetah project is a success,” said Yadav.
He claimed that there are 25 cheetahs in the country along with newly born cubs. As of today, the total number of cheetahs in Kuno National Park is 25, including 12 surviving cubs. So far seven adult cheetahs and five cubs died between March 2023 and January 2024.
“In the last two years, the kind of success in cheetah conservation we have achieved is phenomenal. However, conservation is a long-term time-taking plan so we need to be patient,” said Yadav during an event 'All Tiger Reserve- Through the Lens'.
Recently, an adult free-ranging cheetah named Pawan died after ‘drowning’ has created a controversy over India’s conservation plan. Experts say Cheetahs can swim and cannot drown. Postmortem reports of the animal are not yet put in public.
Yadav said there are 57 tiger reserves in the country encompassing 79 thousand sq. kilometers. There are 33 elephant reserves along with.
The cheetah was formally declared extinct from India in 1952. According to the wildlife research organisation, Bombay Natural History Society, the last three cheetahs were killed in 1947 by the king of Koriya, a princely state of Central India.
The main reasons for the decline of grassland species were large-scale capture of animals from the wild for coursing, bounty and sport hunting, extensive habitat conversion along with consequent decline in prey base.
India re-introduced cheetah on 17 September 2022, bringing eight of the big cats (five female and three male cheetahs). In February 2023, India brought another batch of 12 cheetahs from South Africa. Now, It has been planning to bring it from Kenya on an experimental basis.
