After initial hesitation, the eight cheetahs which arrived from Namibia are getting acquainted with their new surroundings in the Madhya Pradesh reserve. Radio-collared, they are being monitored and have not begun to hunt yet
After 70 years since their extinction in the country, cheetahs are back in India. PTI
It has been two days since eight African cheetahs – five female and two male – were reintroduced to India after the species went extinct in the country in 1952.
On 17 September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his birthday released three of these eight wild cats in separate 50×30-metre quarantine enclosures, while the others were released later.
The prime minister dubbed one female cheetah Asha, which means hope in English, while the other females were named Savannah, Tbilisi, Siyaya and Sasha. The three male wild cats were christened as Oban, Freddie and Elton.
As per PTI, The cheetahs from Namibia are still finding their footings in new surroundings in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park (KNP).
How have these cheetahs been spending their days? What are the challenges that they may have to contend with?
Let’s find out in detail:
Food and rest
The eight cheetahs, who were flown to India on empty stomachs as per protocol, were fed three kilos of buffalo meat each on Saturday around 4 pm, reported Hindustan Times (HT).
Wildlife Institute of India (WII) dean professor YV Jhala said the majority of the wild cats are calm and taking note of their new environment, while two of them were shy and taking time to settle.
“The cheetahs slept through their 12-hour journey from Namibia, so they slept very little on Saturday night. They were feeling the new woodland ambience and hearing every sound. They snap to attention at every little sound, but they are calm. Two cheetahs are taking time to adjust but they are healthy,” Jhala was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
Laurie Marker, executive director of Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), said a medical check-up of the cheetahs was done and all of them are healthy.
These radio-collared animals are reportedly being observed round the clock by Indian officials along with two experts, Eli Walker and Bart Balli, from the Namibia-based CCF.
While four-year-old Asha was seen resting under the tree in her enclosure on Sunday, the two brothers – Freddie and Elton (both aged 5.5 years) — relaxed together and also checked out the fencing, as per Hindustan Times
Prime Minister Narendra Modi released three cheetahs into quarantine enclosures at Kuno National Park on 17 September. News18
The many challenges
WII dean professor Jhala said the arrival of the cheetahs was only the ‘beginning’ and the ‘actual work begins now’.
“The actual work is to keep them healthy and alive and sustain the population. The usual transit mortality rate is 20% and we have been very lucky that all the cheetahs have arrived safe and sound,” Jhala was quoted as saying by Indian Express.
The cheetahs will be fed buffalo meat till they stay in their quarantine enclosures for a month.
They would catch their prey only after they are let out into larger enclosures spanning over six square kilometres.
National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) member secretary Dr SP Yadav told The New Indian Express that the wild cats will be able to hunt “chital, neel gai, wild pigs and sambhar which are in plenty” once they are in the larger enclosures.
Valmik Thapar, a leading conservationist in India, has expressed doubts about the cheetahs finding prey on their own in Kuno National Park. He said the cheetahs will have to rely on hunting the spotted deer which can injure these wild cats.
“In the Serengeti (National Park in Tanzania), there are about a million-plus gazelles available. In Kuno, unless we breed and bring in blackbucks or chinkaras (which live on grassland), the cheetahs will have to hunt the spotted deer, which are forest animals and can hide. These deer also have large antlers and can injure the cheetah. And cheetahs cannot afford injury; it’s mostly fatal for them,” he told NDTV.
Leopard threat
Thapar has also cited the threat of the leopards to cheetahs at the Kuno National Park.
As per news agency PTI, leopards in Africa prey on adult cheetahs while spotted hyenas kill cheetah cubs.
The conservationist explained that due to the varied terrain in Namibia and India, cheetahs here would face obstructions in outrunning their attackers.
Experts believe there are many challenges that these cheetahs will face while settling at Kuno National Park. Firstpost
On the cheetah and leopard conflict, CCF founder Dr Laurie Marker told PTI that the two species co-exist in Namibia, adding that “several of these cheetahs come from areas having lions”.
“There are tigers where they are right now and I don’t think it will actually be a problem. However, there can be losses as living in the wild is not a fairy tale. The animals are used to other predators but we will have to be very realistic. Reintroductions are not easy. Bringing an animal back from extinction is not an easy process,” she was quoted as saying by the news agency.
Notably, tigers from the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan have been occasionally sighted at KNP.
Dismissing the concern of lesser space at KNP for the cheetahs, Marker said these wild cats’ home range size requirements in India are expected to be “lower due to the more productive habitats”.
“We hope that they will not leave (the park). Ideally, they will stay in the area. Their home ranges are also dependent on the amount of prey that’s available to them and there is quite a bit of prey (at Kuno) and I hope the habitat is going to keep them there,” the expert told PTI.
With inputs from agencies
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