Cheetah Reintroduction in India

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Cheetah: The Comeback

As experts from the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) start the process of evaluating sites to reintroduce the majestic cheetah to India’s wilds, a competition of sorts has also begun between states to play host.


The cheetah was declared extinct from India in 1952. Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Koriya is believed to have hunted and shot the last three recorded Asiatic cheetahs in India in 1947. Now, over 70 years later, the fastest land animal appears set to make a comeback in India. 

In 2009, Jairam Ramesh, then minister for environment and forests, had initiated the cheetah reintroduction project, but it was stayed by the Supreme Court in 2012 on the grounds that the African cheetah was an alien and exotic species and because the National Board for Wildlife, the apex wildlife body in the country, had not been consulted in the matter. In January 2020, though, after the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) filed a petition, the Supreme Court finally allowed the Centre to introduce the African cheetah to a suitable habitat in India. A committee, including M.K. Ranjitsinh, wildlife conservationist and former IAS officer, Dhananjay Mohan, IFS, director of the WII, and a deputy inspector general from the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), has been set up under the orders of the apex court to monitor the implementation of the project. The committee has asked the WII to carry out a technical evaluation of all possible sites. 

Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar are eager to host the big cats in their respective forest reserves, and a fourth state, Gujarat, is still evaluating sites. While Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan were part of the original plan, Bihar is an interesting, new claimant.

Y.V. Jhala, dean, faculty of wildlife science at the WII, will travel to Madhya Pradesh on November 26 to begin site evaluation at four habitats. “We will visit all probable sites before narrowing down on the better ones for reintroduction, depending on factors like prey base, topography and safety,” says Jhala. The state had initially shortlisted two sites, the Kuno Palpur sanctuary, which has also been cleared as a second home of the Asiatic lion, and the Nauradehi sanctuary in Sagar district, but has now offered two more options, the Gandhi Sagar sanctuary on the northern boundary of Mandsaur and Nimach districts and the Madhav National Park in Shivpuri district. “Protection measures have been strengthened, protected areas have been added, augmentation of prey base has been done through translocation of herbivore species and villages have been relocated outside reserves to create inviolate areas,” says J.S. Chauhan, additional principal chief conservator of forests, wildlife wing, Madhya Pradesh. He adds: “Madhya Pradesh has been a pioneering state in wildlife translocation and has a number of successful initiatives involving species such as tigers, swamp deer and bison to its credit.” Chauhan believes the habitats in the state have a good chance of being selected.

According to a top Madhya Pradesh government official, once a site is cleared, it will not take long for the cheetahs to be reintroduced to the chosen habitat. “It will take a couple of years since a lot of work is being done simultaneously,” says the official, adding that talks are on with donor groups in South Africa and Namibia to source the animals. The number of cheetahs to be brought in is to be decided at the end of the site evaluation process. “The idea is to survey multiple habitats and ideally choose more than one. Once the habitats are shortlisted, WII may recommend certain measures that should be taken to further improve it,” says Ranjitsinh, chairman of the Supreme Court-appointed committee. “We were initially looking to complete the site selection by the end of the year and bringing in the animals by next year. Unfortunately, Covid has impacted the pace of work, but once the site selection work begins, the cats can be brought in next year.”

Other states are just as optimistic as Madhya Pradesh about bagging the project. The MoEF had written to all states to come up with a proposal for potential sites. The Rajasthan forest department has proposed the Shahgarh Bulge near Jaisalmer on the India-Pakistan border, which was under consideration in the earlier version of the plan too. However, the ministry of defence has expressed concerns over allowing tourist movement so close to the border. Plus, the area is also used by the defence forces for strategic movement and they are reluctant to let the cheetah introduction disturb that. Besides, it is also a site for oil and gas exploration, which may not be conducive to cheetah movement.

Kota in Rajasthan was also in the reckoning, but it has been difficult to find 2,000 sq. km for a cheetah habitat here, more so since tiger introduction in the area is already underway. The Mukundra Hill Tiger Reserve in the state is another contender.


Among the respondents to the MoEF’s letter for potential sites was Bihar, offering the Kaimur district on its southwestern border as a potential site. The region is said to have a substantial black buck population that would serve as prey base for the cheetah. There was talk of Gujarat throwing its hat in the ring as well, since the state has potential sites such as Velavadar, Narayan Sarovar and the Banni grasslands reserve, but it is yet to send in a proposal. 

The tourism potential of the cheetah project is not lost on the states. “The reintroduction would be as much an economic operation as a conservation operation. The cheetahs would promote tourism in the area, create jobs and income for locals. What tigers did for protection of forests, cheetahs will do for grasslands that are under immense threat,” says H.S. Pabla, former chief wildlife warden, Madhya Pradesh. According to Kuldeep Singh Chandela, president of the Rajasthan Association of Tour Operators, “The introduction of cheetahs will create one or two new tourist attractions in the state and take away loads from Ranthambore and Sariska, the two tiger draws in the state. Already, leopard sanctuaries in Jaipur and Pali are new attractions for wildlife lovers.” 

The Union government, too, has shown considerable interest in the project. Even as ministries faced cuts during the pandemic, a Rs 2.4 crore outlay was made for the cheetah project a little more than a month ago. 

https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/up-front/story/20201130-cheetah-the-comeback-1742523-2020-11-20 Reply