8 Cheetahs Reintroduced In India from Namibia After 70 years

PM releases Cheetah at Kuno National Park since it got extinct In 1952

On Saturday, September 17, eight cheetahs arrived in India from Namibia, more than 70 years after they became extinct. On a modified passenger B-747 Jumbo Jet that departed from Hosea Kutako International Airport in Windhoek and arrived in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, the large cats were transported. The cheetahs were released by Prime Minister Modi, on the occasion of his birthday on that day itself, at Kuno National Park. After repeated attempts to bring back the Cheetah in India since it became extinct in 1952, India in July 2022 finally signed a pact with Namibia to reintroduce the animal. This is the first time a huge carnivore has been transported across continents and released back into the wild.

How Many Cheetahs Are to Be Brought in India?

More than a third of the 7,000 cheetahs in the world live in South Africa and Namibia, where at least 20 cheetahs are travelling to India. The first group of eight, consisting of three boys and five girls between the ages of two and six, arrived in the Indian city of Gwalior on Saturday from Windhoek, Namibia. Before being released in a national park in central India, they will spend a month in quarantine. A dedicated group of volunteers will be assigned to each cheetah to keep an eye on it and track its whereabouts. Each cheetah has a satellite radio collar on it for geolocation updates. 

Reason for Demise of Cheetahs in India

According to experts, hunting, habitat destruction, and a lack of food were all factors in the cheetah's demise in India. According to studies, during the colonial era, sheep and goat herders killed at least 200 cheetahs in India. Because the cats would invade settlements and massacre cattle, some of them were eradicated through bounty hunting. The only large mammal to go extinct in the nation since it was freed from British dominion is the cheetah. However, some fear that because animal migration is always risky, releasing the cheetahs into a park would put them in danger. Cheetahs are fragile creatures who stay out of fights and are hunted by other predators. Additionally, the Kuno Park is home to a substantial leopard population that may prey on cheetah babies. The cheetahs may also stray outside the borders and meet their demise at the hands of humans or other animals. Officials, however, argue that the worries are baseless because cheetahs are very adaptive creatures and that the nominated site has undergone a thorough examination for habitat, prey, and the possibility of man-animal conflict.

Future of Cheetahs 

The majority of the nation's former cheetah habitats, according to some conservationists in India, are disappearing as a result of land pressure. In Kuno National Park, India is estimating a cheetah population of 20. The nation intends to import and relocate 50–60 cheetahs in six reserves and parks across the nation during the next five–six years, moving the animals for genetic and demographic variety. In terms of conservation, the reintroduction of cheetahs into India is a risky move that is urgently required if we are to have any hope of preventing the extinction of this species. The introduction of the cheetah is a moment that must be seized upon by policymakers to evolve solutions to such long standing issues.