But there are as usual naysayers and armchair environmental critics who argue that bringing African cheetah is a bad idea

After 70 years since the killing of the last surviving cheetah by Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Koriya estate in Madhya Pradesh (now in Chhattisgarh), the Centre re-introduced cheetahs in the country.Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon after returning from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit released the first batch of eight cheetahs on September 17, 2022 in Kuno National Park of Madhya Pradesh.

The cheetahs will first be quarantined for a few days in an enclosure and gradually released in a larger fenced area and into the forests ultimately. The release of cheetahs is significant not only from the point of view of conservation of wildlife but also for the civilisational message to bring back the lost heritage of biodiversity and celebrate the co-existence of all life forms on earth.

It is also a proud moment for the much maligned Indian Forest Service (IFS) which has been using the acronym IFS for over more than a century for getting back a priceless species it conserved against all odds before it went extinct due to the false notion of bravery by hunting with guns by the misguided Royals. Cheetah is the most charismatic, beautiful and fastest animal in the world.

Cheetah is capable of accelerating up to 120 kilometres per hour in just over three seconds. At top peed, their stride is 23 feet long which makes them fearsome hunters. The male and female cheetahs live differently. The male siblings move in a group of two to three or even more and this is called a coalition which lasts for life and protects their territory well, while the female cheetah lives alone and meets the male only during mating time.

Cheetahs do not pose much challenge for humans and many royals and others used to rear them and used them for hunting. Unlike other cats they do not roar but meow or purr.

However, after this release of cheetahs in the Kuno National Park, the real challenge to the foresters has begun in order to see if we can replicate the success of tiger conservation for cheetah also.

The cheetah became extinct due to indiscriminate hunting and shrinking of its natural habitat. It thrives in grassland and in India the saddest part is that we have never given focus on grassland conservation.

Now there are as usual naysayers and armchair environmental critics who argue that bringing African cheetah is a bad idea. Today, if cheetah can find a new home akin to their home territory there is nothing wrong in it from the point of view of biodiversity conservation. After all, the migration of animals and plants from one geographic area to another had routinely happened during the evolutionary process.

The real test of re-introduction will happen when these eight cheetahs adapt to their new home and start hunting and live in a natural style of their own so that the next batch of cheetah can be brought here. The good thing about Kuno is that it has a good prey base for them to survive. The second issue is how the local people will see this introduction in future in terms of protection of their habitats.

The Madhya Pradesh government had already relocated 24 villages and the forest department though had made adequate precautions for their protection and movements and had made arrangements for 24 hours vigilance but they will have to see that the tree climbing leopard do not enter their territory.

The leopard hunts by ambush but cheetah do not have retractable claws and hunt for a particular type of prey like medium sized antelopes, hares, calves of herd animals, birds with their speed and sudden galloping gait. Thirdly, the local people and scientific community from the Wild Life Institute and Universities need to be involved in the conservation process with liberal research and training grants.

Fourthly, the poachers must be kept at bay and for this forest department at field level must possess the best of the equipment. The Central as well as the Madhya Pradesh Governments, therefore, will have to plan a long term strategy for the cheetah conservation in India so that in next few years the population of the cheetahs can grow.

The situation of manpower from forest guard to ranger level and infrastructure needs a review. We must understand that the manpower of the forest department and infrastructure like superior weapons and other modern gadgets are no match for the superior equipment of the poachers.

It will be a special challenge for the Park Director, because cheetah breeding requires proper attention and resources. A “Project Cheetah Scheme” needs to be started on the pattern of Project Tiger.

(The author is former Director-General, ICFRE, Ministry of Environment & Forest)