Cheetah Reintroduction in India

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Project Cheetah at Kuno warms up for born-in-India stage

BHOPAL: A male cheetah may soon be released into an enclosure with three females to seed the next step of this ambitious project - a born-in-India cheetah, the first in nearly 80 years.

Dr Laurie Marker, the executive director of 
Cheetah Conservation Fund, said they are considering putting boys in with girls to jump start breeding. However, which one of the three males - Elton, Freddie or Oban - will go first has not been decided yet, said sources. 

Sources said that the project cheetah team is now working on a strategy for the potential breeding. Experts believe conditions for procreating are more favourable in the bomas right now than in the park. 

Union minister for environment, forest and climate change, Bhupender Yadav, held a review meeting at Kuno National Park with a team of researchers, scientists and forest officials on Sunday. 


The vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of turning an ecological wrong into ecological harmony is taking shape. All eight cheetahs are adapting well," the minister tweeted.



However, cheetah breeding comes with its own complications. An article in the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) says that only 20% of cheetahs breed successfully in captivity, partly due to reduced genetic diversity. It also suggests that cheetahs have poor sperm motility and increased infant mortality. 



"Males produce better quality sperm when they are away from the public eye or have fewer care-givers, and also when they are grouped with other males. The later research finding was informed by observations in the wild, of male cheetahs often living with their brothers. On the other hand, female cheetahs are more successful at breeding when they have been transferred away from the facility where they were born, mimicking what would happen for them in the wild," reads an article by 

Meredith Hanel

 of CCF. 


Hanel says that unlike house cats, female cheetahs do not make it obvious when they are ready to mate and they may not go into heat for several months.



A cheetah, named 'Asha' by PM Modi, was pregnant when she was translocated from Namibia to Kuno, but lost the embryos, perhaps due to stress, as per CCF. Medical examination immediately after her capture in the wild had shown signs of embryos though her pregnancy status remained unclear even after being brought to Kuno in the absence of testing facilities and protocols. The suspense regarding Asha's pregnancy ended with the completion of her gestation period. TNN 



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