“South African officials visited the Gandhisagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh and were briefed on preparations to welcome cheetahs under the ambitious Cheetah project. They shared valuable observations during a visit to the booms, control rooms and future veterinary facilities,” we read in a post on Page X by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
On Wednesday, a South African delegation met with Indian officials in Fresh Delhi, with discussions focused on strengthening cooperation between the two countries on species conservation, especially Project Cheetah.
Five to eight cheetahs will be released in a fenced area in Gandhisagar where they will focus on breeding. This is expected to happen later this year, most likely after the monsoon, officials associated with the project told PTI on Thursday.
A 64 sq km enclosure is being prepared at Gandhisagar, about six hours’ drive from Kuno. It covers an area of 368 km2 and is surrounded by an additional 2,500 km2 of area.
The habitat around the fenced area in the Protected Area (PA) and the animals will be released into the wild in Gandhisagar landscape in a phased manner after restoration of the environment and recovery of the victims, they said. According to a document released by the Union Ministry of Environment earlier this year, the long-term target is to create a cheetah metapopulation in the Kuno-Gandhisagar landscape (area of approximately 9,000 sq km) of 60-70 individuals once regeneration measures are implemented and prey availability and scientific management are ensured. The current action plan, based on the broad framework of the earlier action plan for the introduction of cheetahs into India, has been modified and formulated based on lessons learned from Kuno and adapted to site-specific requirements at Gandhisagar, in line with the overarching IUCN Guidelines on Reintroduction and Conservation Translocation (2013), we read in the document.
The Cheetah project aims to reintroduce the only species of enormous carnivore that became extinct in independent India. The first batch of eight cheetahs was imported to India in September 2022, while the second batch of 12 cheetahs arrived from South Africa in February last year.
The notorious cheetah conservation project initially faced criticism over the animals’ deaths. But with 12 cubs born this year, officials say the project is on track.
In January, Namibian cheetah Aasha gave birth to three cubs. Jwala, another female cheetah from Namibia, also gave birth to three cubs in the same month. Last year she gave birth to four cubs, but only one of them survived. Since the South African cheetah Gamini gave birth to six cubs in March, the total number of cheetahs, including cubs, in Kuno is now 26.
Since March last year, seven adult cheetahs, including Shaurya, have died due to various reasons.
The seven adult cheetahs – three females and four males – that died were Sasha, Uday, Daksha, Tejas, Suraj, Dhatri and Shaurya. The first six fatalities occurred in the six-month period from March to August 2023.
