Cheetah returns to India: 70-year wait set to end, Kuno National Park will soon be home to 8 big cats

On September 17, India will once again be home to the cheetah, one of the fastest big cats in the world. This year, the government plans to fulfill its goal of reintroducing cheetahs to India on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, said that the Kuno Palpur National Park in that state would serve as the cheetahs' new habitat.

Five female and four male cheetahs will be flown to Kuno after initially stopping in Jaipur. They are quarantined at the CCF Center in Otjiwarongo and have received vaccinations and satellite collars. The cheetahs were chosen after consideration of their health, wild nature, hunting prowess, and capacity to contribute genetic to a great founder population.

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Preparations in Kuno National Park for cheetah’s habitat

These cheetahs will spend two to three months in a specially built 500 hectare (5 square kilometre) cage before being released into the open after adapting to their new surroundings.

In sufficient numbers, other small animals are also being brought here so that the cheetahs can go on food hunts. 8-foot-high fencing has been used to demarcate the 500-hectare area. There are a total of 8 doors in the enclosure, 4 of which are main entrances. In addition, cameras have been installed for their maintenance and protection.

Five leopards were present while the special cheetah enclosure was being constructed. Since leopards are dangerous to cheetahs, the department is working to relocate them. There are still three leopards in this particular cage.

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Special plane to bring back cheetahs

A specially modified B747 jumbo aeroplane will bring eight cheetahs to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park in India. The aeroplane that will be used for the purpose has been developed to provide the secure placement of cages in the main cabin while still allowing veterinarians complete access to the cats during the journey.

An ultra-long range jet with a cheetah image painted on it can travel uninterruptedly from Namibia to India without stopping for refuelling, which is essential for the cheetahs' survival. The aircraft has a maximum flight time of 16 hours.

When did last cheetah died?

The last three cheetahs in the nation are thought to have been killed in 1947 by Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Korea (Koriya), Madhya Pradesh. The cheetah was officially declared extinct in India by the government in 1952.

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History of cheetah extinction

The former vice-president of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Divyabhanusinh, claims in his book "The End of a Trail - The Cheetah in India" that Mughal emperor Akbar, who ruled from 1556 to 1605, owned 1,000 cheetahs. The animals were used to hunt gazelles and blackbucks. According to Divyabhanusinh, Jahangir, is credited with using cheetah coursing to capture more than 400 antelopes in the pargana of Pala.

The number of cheetahs decreased as a result of their capture for hunting and the challenges associated with breeding them in captivity. Although they occasionally shot and speared the animals while they were mounted on horses, the British in India reportedly had little interest in cheetah coursing.

When the number of Indian cheetahs fell to a few hundred at the start of the 20th century, rulers started bringing in African animals for coursing; between 1918 and 1945, about 200 animals were brought in.

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Both the sport and the Indian cheetah disappeared once the British Raj left and India attained independence. The government "asked for assigning special emphasis for the protection of the cheetah in central India" and "bold experiments to preserve the cheetah" were urged at the inaugural wildlife board meeting in independent India in 1952.

Talks to introduce the Asiatic cheetah to India in exchange for Asiatic lions then started in the 1970s with the Shah of Iran. It was decided to adopt the African variety for reintroduction in India due to the small number of Asiatic cheetahs in Iran and their genetic resemblance to the African kind.

In 2009, efforts to reintroduce cheetahs to the nation were resumed. Between 2010 and 2012, ten locations were examined. Since significant investments were made in this protected region for the reintroduction of Asiatic lions, an additional endangered species, the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh was thought to be prepared for accepting cheetahs with the fewest management interventions.

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When did re-introduction of cheetah project initiated?

Following a development plan by the Union Environment Ministry and the Wildlife Trust of India that determined Kuno to be the most suitable site for the reintroduction, the current plan to bring Cheetah was first proposed in 2009. The National Board for Wildlife was not informed of the proposal, and the Supreme Court (SC) halted the order to relocate the cheetah in Kuno as a result. The Asiatic lion, which is only found in Gir National Park in Gujarat, should be reintroduced first, the court said.

Following a government request, the SC authorised Cheetah's comeback in January 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic outbreak in the same year had another negative impact on the project. The project wasn't pushed until the third wave of Covid-19 passed.

(With inputs from PTI)