India prepares to set up quarantine enclosures for more cheetahs arriving from South Africa

Authorities in central India are building quarantine enclosures inside the existing periphery where eight Namibian cheetahs are inhabited as they prepare to bring another dozen cheetahs from South Africa by the end of this year in the same national park in Madhya Pradesh, officials said.

Top forest officials of Madhya Pradesh state have said they have identified the location for setting up quarantine “bomas” or enclosures for at least 12 cheetahs expected to reach India under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the South African government, reported daily The Indian Express.

Both the countries signed the memorandum earlier this year to reintroduce the wild cat back in the Indian subcontinent through intercontinental translocation.

“We have begun procurement of material for the bomas,” said Uttam Sharma, chief conservator of forest at Kuno-Palpur National Park.

He added that the officials come with an experience of setting up the six quarantine bomas for the eight cheetahs from Namibia and will take less than 15 days to set up similar bomas for the cheetahs set to come from South Africa.

Madhya Pradesh’s principal secretary for forest Ashok Barnwal also said that India is going full steam with its plan of translocation, just days after the country welcomed the Namibian cheetahs in a controversial project from African savannahs.

Stating that India is at an advanced stage, Mr Barnwal said: “It is only a matter of time before the MoU is signed, clearing the decks for the translocation project. Once done, we will expedite the process of translocating the cheetahs,” the report added.

At present, five females and three males cheetahs are housed in a restricted paddock 5 sq kilometres (1.3 sq miles) in size where they are being acclimated to the water and air, India’s flora and fauna and prey base.

South Africa is expected to send cheetahs after 4 October.

Earlier this month, wildlife experts working on the project captured four cheetahs at reserves in South Africa and flew them down to Mozambique after quarantining them for about a month and clearing for travel.

Conservationists are preparing to fly 12 more cheetahs — reputed to be the world’s fastest land mammals — to India, but stress that the relocation projects prove to be taxing for the animals.

“It’s a very stressful process for the cats to be in a boma (livestock enclosure) environment because they have nowhere to go whilst we are darting them,” wildlife veterinarian Andy Frasier said on shooting the cats with darts of tranquillisers.

He added that the officials tasked with capturing the animals need to use the drug doses very carefully and make sure that the animals are given enough drugs to anaesthetise them safely.

“They have woken up nicely in their crates and they are all relaxed enough that we are happy for them to leave in their transport,” he said.

The members of the team are preparing for a comparatively larger and more challenging relocation than the one carried out from Namibia.

These dozen cheetahs will travel a much longer distance with stops in commercial airports, whereas the Namibian cats were onboard a private jet for 11 hours of nonstop journey from Windhoek.

Those cheetahs would be treated with a tranquilliser that lasts for three to five days during their travel, Mr Frasier said.