One year of Project Cheetah: Comparisons with Project Tiger flawed and unhelpful

Experts say they knew at the outset that cheetah relocation into a habitat that had not hosted these big cats in 70 years was going to be challenging. (Photo by by Michael M via Pexels)

A year after cheetahs were reintroduced in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park, there is debate over how well Project Cheetah is going. Between March 27 and August 2 this year, nine cheetahs, including three cubs, died for a variety of reasons from extreme weather to parasitic infection. Experts have since come out to explain that the deaths of cheetahs in an Indian wildlife reserve were expected because of translocation and the time wild cats take to adapt from their traditional habitats in Africa. In fact, experts are still holding out hope for a successful relocation, and there is going to be an influx of eight more Namibian cheetahs - three male and five female adult cheetahs, all between two years and five-and-a-half years old - into Kuno National Park. The cheetahs making the 11-hour transcontinental journey from Namibia to India are likely to be welcomed by PM Narendra Modi on September 17, 2023, his 73rd birthday.

“There is no need for an alarm (over cheetah deaths). This is not a true statement (that almost all cheetahs have died). Why would anyone say this?” Dr Laurie Marker, executive director of the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), told Moneycontrol in an email interaction from Otjiwarongo, Namibia. The CCF is celebrating the first anniversary of Project Cheetah. "The anniversary of cheetah's return to India is a celebration of boundless possibilities that emerge when humans unite for nature," said Dr Marker. She, however, admitted the initial year of the historic reintroduction of cheetahs in India has been marked by setbacks.

The CCF has offered advice and new strategies to help ensure the successful reintegration of the latest batch of these majestic creatures into their natural habitat in India, Dr Marker added.

Recent media reports in India said a large number of wild cats have died. The Indian government has drawn flak from some wildlife experts and also members of the Opposition Congress party. Former environment minister Jairam Ramesh blamed the programme for lacking what he called science and transparency.

But experts from Namibia differ.

“I hate the politics that have come into play with conservation in India,” said Dr Marker. “Yes, we believe we have learned a lot and as we say in our written documents we sent (to India) - we have learned a lot. So, we believe that time will help as we feel that the cats are on the right track,” she said.

Cheetahs, the world's fastest land animal, were reintroduced into India after 70 years. The wild cats, once a vital part of India’s ecosystem, faced a tragic decline. The last recorded sighting was in the 1950s. The Asian cheetah now survives only in Iran.

Dr Marker said across the world, cheetah conservation has taken a lot more time than what people are witnessing in India. There has never been a successful reintroduction of cheetahs into a wildlife reserve in recorded history. As per the records, translocation of the wild cats has been attempted over 15 times in Africa and it has failed every time. Nine of the first 10 attempts at cheetah introduction in South Africa failed and more than 200 cheetahs were lost in the country during that time.

“Namibia has done an amazing job with our community-based programmes and conservation,” said Dr Marker. The CCF is the world’s longest running and most successful cheetah conservation organization. Namibia, home to more than a third of the world's 7,000 cheetahs, is considered the 'cheetah capital of the world'.”

“Bringing back cheetahs to India was a daring  endeavour, full of challenges. We celebrated the birth of the first litter of four cubs born to one of the females from Namibia and the additional arrival of a group of 12 cheetahs from South Africa. Despite setbacks and difficulties that prompted a decision to retrieve the animals, we are leveraging these experiences to reassess strategies before the cheetahs are released once again,” said Dr Marker.

The anniversary of the cheetah’s return to India is a celebration of the boundless possibilities that emerge when humans unite for nature.

- Dr Laurie Marker, executive director, Cheetah Conservation Fund

The historic initiative is part of a larger, multi-year agreement to aid in the conservation of the species. “The vision of reintroducing these charismatic animals emerged (and) was driven by a collective determination to restore ecological balance and preserve India’s biodiversity,” said CCF in a note mailed to Moneycontrol.

Top CCF officials say the reintroduction process posed formidable challenges, involving the task of acclimating wild cheetahs to a habitat that had not seen this cat species for 70 years. “Dedicated teams have worked tirelessly to create an environment conducive to the cheetah’s natural instincts. This remarkable journey was marked by both setbacks and successes. Despite the challenges, there have also been many positive outcomes, including the confirmation that the reintroduced cheetahs are hunting native prey species.

“There have been no human-wildlife conflict incidents and the communities surrounding Kuno National Park have been incredibly accepting of having cheetahs living in such close proximity. With close to 90 leopards also residing in the park, there have been no reported conflicts between the cheetahs and other predator species; it has not deterred the cheetah’s integration into their former range.”

GPS collars

A pivotal aspect of monitoring the reintroduced cheetahs - claimed the experts - is the use of GPS collars. This helped conservationists to gather essential data about the cheetah’s movements, habits, and interactions, offering insights into their integration back into the wilds of India. CCF’s Conservation Biologist and Release Specialist Eli Walker emphasized the impact collars have on the study of cheetahs in the wild. “The tracking collars remain critical to the success of the project. Without them, no post-release monitoring is possible and therefore the animals’ progress in the wild of India would not be possible to determine.”

“The return of the cheetahs to India is not just about their survival; it is a testament to our commitment to safeguard the web of life that sustains us all. The anniversary of the cheetah’s return to India is a celebration of the boundless possibilities that emerge when humans unite for nature,” said Dr Marker.

Expected mortality

South African wildlife expert Van der Merwe, who is deeply involved with India’s cheetah project, said he felt the deaths should not cause panic or alarm and the deaths were within normally acceptable range. He said the team of experts from South Africa had anticipated a 50 percent mortality in the first year, probably 10 would survive the initial release period.

Also read: 'A few more cheetah deaths may occur, but these should be isolated events', says vet who helped translocate the cheetahs from South Africa

Der Merwe was quoted by NDTV as saying that there seems to be a frenzy in India because of some deaths and there are rumours that the project is failing. “That is not true. Cheetahs naturally have high mortality rates. And we have observed this same mortality rate in Africa when we reintroduced them into unfenced systems. We are not advocating that India must fence all of its cheetah reserves, we are saying just fence two or three and create sources to top up sink reserves.”

Adrian Tordiffe, a veterinarian at South Africa’s University of Pretoria and a consultant for the project, told the journal Nature: “The fact that we had multiple deaths occurring in a short space of time is not unusual in the sense that it’s the high-risk period. Once things stabilise, that will plateau.”

Another wildlife expert from South Africa, Petro van Eeden of the Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre of Dr Wildt told Moneycontrol that he was aware of the cheetah project in India but he would not like to immediately comment “because we do not have details on it”.

The Indian government has told the Supreme Court in a recent submission that it was taking steps to ensure the wellbeing of cheetahs brought from southern Africa.

Six adult cheetahs out of the 20 brought from South Africa and Namibia in September last year and in February 2023 have died since March, including a female cheetah from a maggot infestation. Three cubs born in the Kuno wildlife reserve in Madhya Pradesh have also perished.

CCF officials told Moneycontrol that cub mortality in the first litter of cheetahs born in India in 70+ years showed conservation is not an easy journey. “With cheetah cubs facing a 30 percent mortality rate in captivity and up to a 90 percent mortality rate in the wild, and the wild population still in decline, we are keenly aware of the preciousness of each new cub,” the officials said.

Yet, the deaths have raised questions about management of India’s ambitious project, championed by none other than the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. The government has told the court that experts are being consulted for the project and the government is exploring ways to disseminate updates about the health of the cheetahs. As per the original agreement, 10-12 cheetahs will be imported to India from African nations annually for five years.

The overall cost of the project, which started last year, is approximately $12 million.

But criticisms continue to flow. Many have blamed the government by contrasting the cheetah project with Project Tiger, which pushed the population of the striped cats to nearly 4,000, around 75 percent of the world's wild tiger population is in India.

But experts say comparing the two projects would be grossly wrong. “Project Tiger did not mean importing tigers from abroad. We banned hunting and offered the wild cats some huge reserve space,” Anjali Gosain, a veteran tiger expert.

Now, all eyes are on the next set of cheetahs which are expected to make the long journey from Africa to their new home in India.