Friday, November 22
On Birthday, PM Modi releases Cheetahs in MP's the Kuno National Park brought from Namibia. After releasing the cheetah, the Prime Minister himself also clicked the photo of the cheetahs. PM Modi's love for animals was also visible.
Under ‘Project Cheetah’, the Central government is “re-introducing” eight African cheetahs – five females and three males -- at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. Cheetahs were declared extinct in India 70 years ago. And exactly seven decades later, the same spotted cats are being reintroduced under the plan called 'Project Cheetah'. To mark this arrival, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host the goodwill ambassadors from the ‘land of the brave’ on 17 September -- his 72nd birthday.
The 'Project Cheetah' is an ambitious project undertaken by Indian government which aims to re-establish the species in its historical range in India. The project is also aimed at developing metapopulation in India that allows the cheetah to perform its functional role as a top predator and provide space for the expansion of the cheetah within its historical range thereby contributing to its global conservation efforts. In July 2020, India and the Republic of Namibia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with the Namibian government agreeing to donate the eight felines to launch the programme. This is the first time that a wild southern African cheetah will be introduced in India, or anywhere in the world.
The reintroduction of wild species particularly the Cheetah is being undertaken as per the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines. The basic aim of the project is to revitalise and diversify India's wildlife and its habitat, the government said. The project is to develop healthy meta-populations in India that allow the cheetah to execute its functional role as a top predator, the government had said earlier this year. The cheetah is a flagship grassland species; whose conservation also helps in preserving other grassland species in the predator food chain
In January 2022, the Centre launched an action plan for introducing Cheetah in India. As part of the project, 50 cheetahs will be introduced in various National Parks over five years. Cheetah happens to be the only large carnivore that got extinct from India due to over-hunting and habitat loss.
With Kuno national park being home to lions and leopards, concerns have been raised over the coexistence of reintroduced cheetahs with the existing species. Chances of elimination due to conflict are high, wildlife experts have pointed out.
The reintroduced cats could also face increased vulnerability due to their small size and climatic and ecological differences between their home country and India.
This, however, has not dimmed the excitement of wildlife enthusiasts who are waiting to catch a glimpse of the world's fastest animal running across the Indian grasslands.
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