In Pics: All you need to know about India's Cheetah reintroduction project
A second batch of 12 cheetahs from South Africa arrived in India on February 18. Here's all you need to know about the Cheetah Reintroduction Project and how the big cat went extinct in India
Twelve cheetahs from South Africa have been released into Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park, taking the total number of cheetahs in KNP to 20. The Cheetah Reintroduction Project, which aims to restore the population of cheetahs in India, formally took off on September 17, 2022, which is PM Narendra Modi’s birthday.
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Cheetahs have been rapidly heading toward extinction and are classified as a vulnerable species under the IUCN’s (International Union for Conservation of Nature) red list of threatened species.
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A look at the range of the Asiatic cheetah during the British period and after in the Indian subcontinent.
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In the Mughal Period, cheetahs were hunted extensively. Emperor Akbar had 1,000 cheetahs in his menagerie.
The first cheetah in the world was bred in captivity in India during the reign of Jehangir.
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In 1952, the indigenous population was declared officially extinct, due to poaching and habitat loss, though a few sporadic sightings continued to be reported from Central India and the Deccan region till the mid-1970s.
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In 2009 it was decided that the African cheetah would be used for introduction to India.
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The first batch of cheetahs arrived in India on September 17, 2022. Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the cheetahs in Kuno National Park.
The second batch of cheetahs arrived in India on February 18, 2023. They were released by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the quarantine enclosures of Kuno National Park.
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Cheetahs are found primarily in the eastern and southern ranges of Africa, south of the Sahara Desert. As of 2015, more than 3,500 cheetahs live in Namibia.
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The Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh was identified for reintroduction because of its suitable habitat, adequate prey base, and lack of human settlement.
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Following the import of the 12 cheetahs in February, the plan is to translocate 12 more annually, for the next eight to 10 years.
