India to get 12 cheetahs from South Africa next week
Cheetahs were declared extinct in India in 1952
India's ambitious ‘Project Cheetah’ will take another important step forward next week with the arrival of the first batch of the 12 big cats from South Africa.
An Indian Air Force plane will drop them off at Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh, via Gwalior city on February 18. It will join eight other cheetahs that were introduced to India from Namibia in September 2022 as part of the world's first inter-continental transfer of large wild carnivorous animals.
'Project Cheetah', officially known as the "Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India," aims to reintroduce the fastest land animal to the country. Cheetahs were declared extinct in India in 1952 due to overhunting and habitat loss.
Last month, India and South Africa signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on sending cheetahs to India. Under the agreement, an initial batch of 12 cheetahs is scheduled to be flown from South Africa to India in February 2023, with a plan to translocate a further 12 annually for the next eight to 10 years.
India to receive South Africa's Cheetah
The initiative is being coordinated by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment in India in collaboration with South African organisations, including the National Biodiversity Institute, National Parks, the Cheetah Range Expansion Project, and the Endangered Wildlife Trust.
The MoU facilitates cooperation between the countries to establish a viable and secure cheetah population in India, promotes conservation, and ensures expertise and capacity building in large carnivore conservation.
The MoU will be reviewed every five years to ensure that it remains relevant and effective in supporting the reintroduction of cheetahs to India.
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