Cheetah’s in India - Lukmaan IAS

THE CONTEXT: The Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change has launched the ‘Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India’ under which 50 of these big cats will be introduced in the next five years. A delegation from India visited Namibia in February 2022 to discuss the translocation logistics with the Namibia Government. Namibia would be giving 3 cheetahs for translocation to India and may become the first nation from where cheetahs would be relocated to Kuno wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. This article analyses the different aspects related to the issue of the reintroduction of cheetahs in India.

KEY DETAILS ABOUT CHEETAHS

The cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, is one of the oldest of the big cat species. It is also the world’s fastest land mammal and is capable of running at speeds of 80 to 128 km/h. They are considered native to Africa and central Iran. The cheetah occurs in a variety of habitats such as the Savannah grasslands in the Serengeti (Kenya-Tanzania, Africa), arid mountain ranges in the Sahara, and hilly desert terrain in Iran. The cheetah is threatened by several factors such as habitat loss, conflict with humans, poaching, and high susceptibility to diseases. In 2016, the global African Cheetah population was estimated at around 7,100 individuals in the wild; it is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Historically ranging throughout most of Sub-Saharan Africa and extending eastward into the Middle East and to central India, the cheetah is now distributed mainly in small, fragmented populations in central Iran and southern, eastern, and north-western Africa. The Asiatic cheetah is classified as a critically endangered species by the IUCN Red List and is believed to survive only in Iran. It is smaller and paler than an African cheetah and looks more like a cat with a smaller head and long neck.

CHEETAHS IN INDIA AND HOW DID THEY BECOME EXTINCT?

CHEETAHS IN INDIA

India has a long history of cheetahs. The name ‘cheetah’ comes from the Sanskrit word chitraka which means ‘spotted’.
The earliest historical references to cheetahs are in classical Greek records of India from the geographer Strabo, about 200 BCE.
Coming down to the Mughal Period, the cheetahs were used extensively for hunting. Mughal Emperor Akbar had 1,000 cheetahs in his menagerie. People in Central India, particularly Gwalior State and Jaipur State, used to hunt cheetahs. The last three cheetahs living in the country were killed in 1947 by the ruler of the erstwhile Koriya state in present-day Chhattisgarh. The species was officially declared extinct in India in 1952.

HOW DID THE CHEETAH BECOME EXTINCT IN INDIA?

The animal is extremely easy to tame, compared to other non-domesticated predators, and was used to hunt prey, a sport called ‘coursing’. The animal was a popular part of many royal courts throughout India and other parts of Asia where it was found.
But another trait of the cheetah was that it was impossible to breed in captivity. There was only one recorded successful attempt at breeding a cheetah in captivity until the 20th century, an event recorded by Emperor Jahangir in 1613 in the book Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri.
As the Cheetah number dwindled due to the high number of Cheetahs being taken from the wild, the animal was also then finally brought to extinction with the advent of the widespread hunting brought to India during the time of the British Raj.
While the government has officially stated that the animal was driven extinct from desertification, experts suggest that the animal had plenty of habitat and prey population to survive if it weren’t hunted to extinction.

THE ACTION PLAN FOR CHEETAH REINTRODUCTION IN INDIA

Under the action plan, the Government of India would bring 50 Cheetahs over the next five years to form a founding population of the species. Further, former cheetah-range states, i.e. Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh would be duly analyzed by the experts.
As part of the plan, India will be translocating around 12-14 cheetahs from South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana to Kuno Palpur National Park in Madhya Pradesh. Kuno National Park has been chosen because of its suitable habitat and adequate prey base. KNP is 748 sq. km. in area, devoid of human settlements, and is estimated to have a capacity to sustain 21 cheetahs.
Each of these cheetahs would also be fitted with Satellite/GSM-GPS-VHF radio collars before their release in the wild to enable monitoring remotely. This could be the world’s first intercontinental cheetah translocation project.

RELEVANCE CHEETAH REINTRODUCTION

SUITABLE LIVING CONDITIONS:

The cheetah used to live and thrive in the Indian Subcontinent for centuries, hence their reintroduction is a realistic step.
Further, the proposed location of Kuno is woodland and cheetahs have been known to survive in woodland.
Cheetahs are quite good at navigating the whistling thorn and acacia scrublands in places like the Maasai Mara game reserve in Kenya (contiguous to Serengeti National Park in Tanzania).
India now is considering restoring its lost natural heritage for ethical as well as ecological reasons. The conservation of the cheetah will revive grasslands and their biomes and habitat, much like Project Tiger has done for forests and all the species that have seen their numbers go up.

SUFFICIENT PREY:

The Kuno national park has a good prey base for cheetahs, comprising the four-horned antelope, chinkara, nilgai, wild pig, spotted deer, and sambar.

ECOSYSTEM STABILITY:

In saving cheetahs, one would have to save not only its prey-base comprising certain threatened species, but also other endangered species of the grasslands and open forest ecosystems.

LESS PROBABILITY OF MAN-ANIMAL CONFLICT:

It is also observed that among large carnivores, conflict with human interests is lowest for Cheetahs. They are not a threat to humans and do not easily attack large livestock.

ECONOMIC RELEVANCE:

The reintroduction of a species like the Cheetah would attract a significant amount of tourism to the cheetah range states. This would give a boost to other sectors like transportation, hotels, etc., and also generate additional jobs.

CHALLENGES WITH THE REINTRODUCTION PROGRAMME

GENETIC DIFFERENCES:

Many experts have expressed concerns over the reintroduction of African Cheetahs instead of Asiactic cheetahs. They believe that Asiactic cheetahs would have been a more suitable choice considering the historical survival of species in the region and their ability to quickly acclimatize.

DISEASE TRANSMISSION TO OTHER SPECIES:

There are very few diseases unique and specific to predators. However, the transmission of these to the endemic tiger population is a cause for concern.

INTERSPECIES COMPETITION AND SCIENTIFIC CONUNDRUMS:

The Kuno National Park is already home to around 30 leopards. Tigers from the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan, 140 km away from Kuno, are also believed to migrate to the park. The proximity of three predators in the same ecosystem may reduce the survival rates of cheetahs.
There is no science available currently to suggest that cheetahs, lions, tigers, and leopards can coexist comfortably in the same habitat. It has never occurred anywhere else before, so there is no real-life experience to draw upon.

MAN-ANIMAL CONFLICT:

More aggressive predators such as tigers and leopards will compete with the cheetahs in the park. They may drive cheetahs to the outskirts of the park, where they could come into conflict with humans.

THE WAY FORWARD

The wildlife authorities should be prepared for some attrition arising out of natural interactions., around 10% of cheetahs in Savannah in Africa are killed by lions. A similar ratio may be killed by Tigers in Kuno. The officials must expect some deaths and tolerate the negative and damaging interactions with cheetahs, keeping in mind the long-term goal of creating a natural interactive landscape and habitat.
A detailed analysis of animals’ lineage and condition should be checked in the host country. This would ensure that they are not from an excessively inbred stock and are in the ideal age group, to conform to the needs of a founding population.
The strategy of cold release should be duly followed as suggested by experts. Under this, the cheetahs would be kept in an enclosure called a boma and prey will be released into this enclosure for cheetahs to catch.
Active negotiations should be done with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), as its permission is necessary for initiating translocation.
A team of experts from various fields is required for each of the project sites along with the training of the personnel both within India and abroad for the successful outcomes of the reintroduction project.

THE CONCLUSION: A careful analysis of the pros and cons shows that cheetah reintroduction is feasible in India considering the species used to exist in the region for centuries. However, the associated concerns should be duly addressed to ensure their long-term survivability. The Cheetah habitat in India historically is from Jammu to Tamil Nadu, very widespread and they were found in any habitat dry forests, grasslands, scrub forests, etc. and it is expected that they will survive quite happily.

Mains practice question:

“Reintroductions of large carnivores have increasingly been recognised as a strategy to conserve threatened species and restore ecosystem functions.” Elaborate on the context of cheetah reintroduction in India.

ADD TO YOUR KNOWLEDGE

ABOUT KUNO NATIONAL PARK:

The topography of Madhya Pradesh in Central India is fascinating. Perhaps, it is the only Indian state with such a diversity of habitats—the dense forests on the Satpura foothills, the open dry grasslands, and the sparse, thorny forests found across the state and the wetlands of River Chambal.
Located in the northern district of Sheopur, Kuno National Park predominantly consists of grasslands and sparse forests that are home to an abundance of mammals, reptiles, birds, and butterflies. Although there has been a lot written about the tiger reserves of Madhya Pradesh, the beautiful Kuno National Park (KNP) has emerged in general discourse because of Cheetah’s reintroduction.
Kuno National Park has a rich floral diversity with more than 129 species of trees. These tropical dry deciduous forests mainly consist of Anogeissus pendula (Kardhai), Senegalia catechu (Khair) Boswellia serrata (Salai), and associated flora.
Kuno’s forests are arguably the finest remnants of the Central Indian Highlands; they were once the hunting grounds of the Gwalior maharajas.
They are inhabited by carnivores such as the Indian Leopard, Indian Wolf, Golden Jackal, Sloth Bear, Indian Fox, and Striped Hyena. The herbivores found here are Spotted Deer, Sambhar, Nilgai, Chousingha, and Blackbuck. The high density of ungulates in Kuno can be attributed to the abundance of short grass species to feed on and the tall grass which provides shelter to the fawns.

Pre 2017 Question:

Recently there was a proposal to translocate some of the lions from their natural habitat in Gujarat to which one of the following sites?

a) Corbett National Park.

b) Kuno Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary.

c) Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary.

d) Sariska National Park.

Answer: B

HISTORIC AND PRESENT CHEETAH RANGE OF THE WORLD

REINTRODUCTION OF CHEETAH IN INDIA