Cheetah Reintroduction in India

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Cheetahs make their 2nd kill, MP forest officials seek permission to introduce big cats in 2 more sanctuaries

Freddie and Elton, two of the eight cheetahs brought to Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park from Namibia, made their second kill on Wednesday evening, once again killing a cheetal or spotted deer, forest officials said.

The second kill was made nearly three days after they made their first kill on the evening of November 6. The first kill was made within 24 hours of their release into a larger enclosure at the national park. According to forest officials, the two cheetahs nearly finished off about 25-30 kg of their kill.

“Considering that they kill every once in two-three days, we were expecting them to make the kill soon. The monitoring team had also spotted them making a chase last evening,” a forest official said, requesting anonymity.

The kill was spotted on Thursday morning after the monitoring team, which is expected to spot the two male brothers physically every day to ensure their safety, was inside Boma 4, the larger enclosure. The monitoring team traces the animals inside the wild tracking their satellite collar along with Very High Frequency (VHF) collars that enable the tracking team to physically locate and monitor the two cheetahs.

On the evening of November 5, around 6 pm, Freddie and Elton became the first two of the eight cheetahs to be released in a larger enclosure after remaining in quarantine for nearly 50 days. Within an hour of their release, Freddie and Elton were spotted chasing a black buck but were not successful in making the kill as it was a huge animal.

The eight cheetahs, including three male and five female cheetahs, were flown down to India on September 17 as a part of an inter-continental translocation for reintroducing cheetahs in India. The ambitious reintroduction project aims to establish a cheetah metapopulation in India nearly 75 years after the last cheetah was killed in India in 1947. Cheetahs were declared extinct in India in 1952. 

MP forest officials are also working to make arrangements for more cheetahs in Nauradehi forest sanctuary in Sagar and Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary in Mandsaur. A proposal has been sent to the Madhya Pradesh government by forest officials two days ago seeking permission to make necessary arrangements.

According to Chief Wildlife Warden J S Chauhan, the proposal has been sent as arrangements will have to be made for cheetahs in these two sanctuaries as Kuno-Palpur National Park only has a carrying capacity of 25 cheetahs.

The Government of India is also working with South Africa to receive another 12 cheetahs. When these cheetahs will be brought in and introduced in Kuno-Palpur National Park, it will take the total population of cheetahs in Kuno to 20.

According to forest officials, when five of the quarantined female cheetahs are released, they will begin to have litters. Coupled with the 12 cheetahs brought in from South Africa, it will exceed Kuno-Palpur’s carrying capacity.

Officials are hopeful of getting 12 cheetahs from South Africa after a team from South Africa which has come to review the preparations in Kuno-Palpur is said to have submitted a favourable report about the conditions in India, senior officials from the Madhya Pradesh government pointed out.

Considering this, as part of the preparation, the proposal to introduce cheetahs in Nauradehi and Gandhi Sagar has been sent. Both Nauradehi and Gandhi Sagar sanctuaries in Madhya Pradesh were considered suitable sites for phase two of the Cheetah Introduction Project towards establishing a cheetah metapopulation in India.

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/bhopal/cheetahs-make-their-2nd-kill-mp-forest-officials-seek-permission-to-introduce-cheetahs-sanctuaries-8260641/?fbclid=IwAR3DzpKqu_Nspqzx_pKYslw27NSecKmptlzGvjynRJFzg2DnpwCAsiYBR9Y Reply