How India’s forest officials are preparing to bring back a top predator from local extinction

Officials this month in central India are readying the Kuno National Park to welcome cheetahs – wild cats made extinct by hunting more than seven decades ago, in a challenging wildlife translocation project.

At least 15-20 cheetahs are being brought to India from South Africa and Namibia in August, which federal officials have said will then be allowed to roam the national park in India’s central Madhya Pradesh state, officials said.

The Indian ministry of environment and forests said the country is launching the reintroduction project to “establish a viable cheetah metapopulation in India that allows the cheetah to perform its functional role as a top predator”.

“Cheetah restoration will be part of a prototype for restoration of original cheetah habitats and their biodiversity, helping to stem the degradation and rapid loss of biodiversity,” the ministry said.

Some of the cheetahs which will enter the subcontinent are in two quarantine enclosures in a veterinary facility in South Africa’s Rooiberg and Zululand’s game reserve, reported the BBC. The other four cheetahs are in Namibia at the present.

These wild cats, which will be airlifted to India soon, have already been tested for a number of diseases and vaccinated against at least six infections such as rabies, herpes, and blood parasites.

Officials in South Africa are monitoring the cheetahs to ensure that they do not get infected by any disease.

In India, federal officials waiting for the animals had shortlisted and surveyed 10 sites between 2010 and 2012 on the basis of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines considering key factors like species viability according to demography, genetics, and socio-economics of conflict and livelihoods.

“Kuno National Park in the state of Madhya Pradesh was considered ready for receiving cheetah with the least management interventions since a lot of investments had been done in this protected area for reintroducing asiatic lions,” the ministry said in a statement.

The dry deciduous forest’s current capacity for cheetahs is a maximum of 21, but officials say that the number can go up to 36 once the larger landscape is restored with the help of prey restoration.

These wild cats will be presented with a prey base of spotted deers, large deers, full-horned antelope and chinkara – which is the Indian species of gazelle.

They will be brought to India in metal crates on a cargo plane on a flight from Johannesburg to Delhi after being tranquilised to stay calm during the trying journey. From there, the officials will take the cheetahs to their new home in Madhya Pradesh by road or helicopters, the report added.

In a bid to ensure the smooth continental transition of the cheetahs, the top wildlife bodies in India will carry out capacity building programmes in the cheetah conservation reserves of Africa.

The Indian government will also bring cheetah managers and biologists from Africa to train their personnel.

Officials have said that the climatic similarities which overlap Kuno and southern Africa will ensure the high probability of habitat suitability for the cheetahs.

To avoid human-animal conflict, the Indian state officials have roped in local village heads, leaders, teachers, social workers, religious figures and non-governmental organisations NGOs to sensitise people about the wildlife conservation efforts.

A local mascot named “Chintu Cheetah” has also been created for the local communities.