12 cheetahs begin their journey from South Africa, to reach India tomorrow

New Delhi: The 12 cheetahs have started their journey from South Africa to reach India on Saturday, informed Union Minister Bhupender Yadav.

The Indian Air Force’s C-17 Globemaster Cargo plane is bringing 12 cheetahs including seven males and five females from South Africa. The Cheetahs will be translocated to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.

“The 12 cheetahs arriving from South Africa, under the visionary leadership of PM Narendra Modi ji to restore our ecological balance, have begun their journey to India. Indian Air Force’s C-17 Globemaster aircraft will get them home tomorrow. Get ready to welcome them,” tweeted Yadav.

The 12 cheetahs arriving from South Africa, under the visionary leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi ji to restore our ecological balance, have begun their journey to India.

Indian Air Force’s C-17 Globemaster aircraft will get them home tomorrow.

Get ready to welcome them. pic.twitter.com/MRlDejQQlo

— Bhupender Yadav (@byadavbjp) February 17, 2023

Cheetahs from South Africa will arrive on Saturday in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park after South Africa last month signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the re-introduction of Cheetahs in India to establish a viable cheetah population in the Asian country. A delegation of cheetah experts, veterinarians and senior officials will be accompanying the cheetahs during the transcontinental translocation exercise.

Addressing the media on Wednesday, Yadav said that bringing the Cheetah back to India will help in restoring the nation’s natural heritage. He also thanked the Defence Ministry and the Indian Air Force for extending full support for the translocation.

The last cheetahs in the Indian wilderness were recorded in 1947 when three cheetahs were shot in the Sal (Shorea robusta) forests of Koriya district, Chhattisgarh. The main reasons for the decline of cheetahs in India were large-scale capture of animals from the wild for coursing, bounty and sport hunting, extensive habitat conversion with a consequent decline in prey base and in 1952 Cheetahs were declared extinct.

The goal of the project is to establish viable cheetah metapopulation in India that allows the cheetah to perform its functional role as a top predator and provide space for the expansion of the cheetah within its historic range thereby contributing to its global conservation efforts.

The major objectives of the introduction project are:

1. To establish breeding cheetah populations in safe habitats across its historic range and manage them as a metapopulation,
2. To use the cheetah as a charismatic flagship and umbrella species to garner resources for restoring open forest and savanna systems that will benefit biodiversity and ecosystem services from these ecosystems,
3. To use the ensuing opportunity for eco-development and eco-tourism to enhance local community livelihoods and
4. To manage any conflict by cheetahs or other wildlife with local communities within cheetah conservation areas expediently through compensation, awareness, and management action.

As per the Action Plan for Cheetah Introduction in India, annually 10-12 cheetahs are required to be imported from African countries for the next 5 years at least.

Earlier, eight cheetahs brought from Namibia were released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Kuno National Park on the occasion of his birthday on September 17, 2022. The big cat returned to India 71 years after the last recorded cheetah was hunted down in Chhattisgarh in 1952.

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