More Cheetahs To Be Moved To India’s National Parks

According to the latest announcements, a dozen additional cheetahs would be transported from South Africa to India.

As recent reports state, the first group of cheetahs will be sent to India in February.

This would be the first time that this has been done, yet these astonishing big cats have always been a part of India's unique ecosystem, as they inhabited the wilds of India until their extinction in 1952, which was brought on by excessive hunting and the destruction of their natural habitat.

There is a subspecies of cheetah known as the African cheetah, and according to the same reports, the individuals of this subspecies that were moved to the Kuno National Park a year ago are now in the process of acclimating to their new surroundings there. In order to repopulate the cheetah in India, a group of eight animals travelled from Namibia to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on September 17, 2022. Five of the eight cheetahs are female, while three are male.

As for now, following the signing of a deal between South Africa and India, India will continue to get between eight and ten cheetahs on a yearly basis for the next eight to ten years to come. This follows the big cats’ relocation from Namibia last year. Both nations recognise the resettlement of cheetahs in India as an "ecological objective" in their national policies.

It is anticipated that the reintroduction of cheetahs in India would add to the variety of livelihood possibilities available to the local populations since they are expected to considerably boost ecotourism.

According to the reports, this is a component of an initiative called Initiative Cheetah, which is a project with the goal of reintroducing cheetahs as a part of the biodiversity of India. The plan calls for the introduction of fifty cheetahs to the Indian subcontinent over the course of the next five years, into a variety of the country's mesmerizing national parks.

 

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com