Comeback of cheetahs to India's wild will only bolster conservation efforts

The Supreme Court’s recent nod to allow the introduction of the African Cheetah to India’s menagerie of big cats, may pave wave for the country to be the first to flaunt all the members in the cat family. The project will be a new addition to India’s conservation efforts as part of which the government spends around ₹500 crore every year.

A sizeable chunk of the funds are spent on two major wildlife conservation projects – Project Tiger and Project Elephant.

The Centre has allocated ₹335 crore for both the projects in 2020-21 of which ₹300 crore has been earmarked for the Tiger Project. Apart from project-based allocations, the government has approved ₹197 crore for the development of wildlife habitats across the country.

Conservation efforts to save tigers

With India being home to around 2,967 tigers – housed in 50 tiger reserves spread across 17 states – the government, has spent ₹323 crore and ₹282 crore in 2018-19 and 2019-20 respectively on the Tiger Project.The population of tigers in the country, by far is the highest number since the introduction of the project. With six reserves each, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have the maximum number of reserves, housing one-third of the tiger population.The cheetah project will give an additional impetus to the government’s efforts to conserve big cats.

In a recent order, the Supreme Court granted permission to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to introduce African cheetahs from Namibia to Indian forests. NTCA had sought the permission in view of the extinction of the Indian Cheetah.

As part of the project the government plans to bring around 20 to 40 cheetahs from Africa over a period of five to eight years. They will be released in the wild depending on the assessment and live naturally in those habitats. A three-member committee has been formed to take decisions on the project.

When asked about the funding for the project, YD Jhala, dean of Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, said the government is yet to allocate money for the same.

“The court has just given the green signal. There will be discussions with central, state governments and then funds will be allocated separately. Currently, we don’t have any funds,” he said.

Jhala said the habitats to which the African cheetahs are to be introduced are yet to be finalised. “An assessment for the same was done around eight years ago. But, we still need to revisit and then we can take the final call,” he added.

The potential sites in the previous assessment were Shahgarh in Rajasthan and Nauradehi and Kuna wildlife sanctuaries in Madhya Pradesh. “New sites can also be considered in this assessment,” he said.

Cheetahs famously owned by kings in pre-Independence India were mostly bred in captivity. Experts say, breeding in captivity affected their population and resulted in their rapid extinction. It’s been seven years since the last Indian cheetah died, rendering the species extinct.

Keeping their delicate nature in mind, wildlife experts say providing the cats a proper habitat is vital for their conservation.

Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Dean YD Jhala says three important factors need to be considered while selecting a habitat – size, prey-base and human disturbance.

“We need at least 20 to 40 cheetahs to create a natural habitat for them. They must get the prey they feed upon in the habitat. And most importantly, there should be a minimum human disturbance in the habitat,” he added.

For the jumbos

The Project Elephant, on the other hand, has received an average allocation of ₹30 crore per year over the past three years. There are 30 elephant reserves across 23 states in India. Odisha houses a maximum of five elephant reserves. The total number of elephants in India is about 27,312 as per the elephant census 2017 conducted by the government of India. However, the number was later updated to 29,964 in September 2018. Only two states – Assam and Karnataka –are the home to more than 11,000 elephants. The Singphan Elephant Reserve in Nagaland is the latest addition to the elephant reserves in India. It was added in August 2018.