Skip to main content

Kuno Cheetah Deaths: What Recent Incidents Reveal About India’s Conservation Effort

Multiple cheetah deaths in Kuno raise questions about habitat limits, prey scarcity, and management. A data-driven look at the challenges facing India’s cheetah project T wo back-to-back cheetah deaths—one from a suspected collision inside the forest and another caused by a speeding vehicle—have once again pushed the spotlight onto the ambitious yet troubled cheetah introduction project in Kuno National Park . While officials have issued preliminary statements, the absence of publicly released post-mortem and investigation reports related to the past such cases has deepened concerns about transparency at a time when clarity is essential. The recent incidents highlight the ecological and management challenges that continue to shape the project’s uncertain trajectory. Each Loss Is Significant Setback On December 5, Friday, one of Veera’s cubs recently released into the open forest, died after reportedly separating from its mother. Just two days later, on December 7, another young cheetah...
Post a Comment

Corbett Controversy: Misplaced Priorities of Politicians

One of the most celebrated tiger reserves of the world, Jim Corbett national park was in the news last week, albeit for the wrong reasons. Union minister of state for forest and environment Ashwini Kumar Choubey  had expressed his intentions to  rechristen   the reserve as Ramganga national park when there are a number of environmental issues pending in Uttarakhand . But the minister chose for renaming of the park which was almost immediately turned down by the state government. This is one of the top safari destinations of the country and very popular among tourists. When the state forest minister Harak Singh Rawat declined the Union minister’s idea on name change, he had in mind the potential threat to tourism activities. “A name change will hit tourism in Uttarakhand as the park is popular, among international tourists, as Corbett,” the minister said.  Interestingly, both the ministers, it seems, did not have on their priority list  the issues pertaining to protection of forest and environment while dealing with the subject. 

Corbett: Tourists' Delight 


The Union minister mentioned in a museum guest book on his tour of the park that the name of Jim Corbett national park should be changed to Ramganga national park. Snuggled in the foothills of Himalayas along the river Ramganga, Corbett offers the best game drive and walking safari experiences making it one of the most popular tourist destinations.  Wildlife lovers expressed their displeasure over the probable name change.  “We should be focused more on preserving the  flora and fauna  of the park rather  than wishing  for  cosmetic changes”, they said.  

Also read: Protect This Wildlife Corridor To Save The Ganges

“Our political leaders, instead of creating controversies about the names, must try solving the problems of our tiger reserves”, writes environmentalist Valmik Thapar . “Wildlife governance is at its lowest ebb, both at the Central and state government levels. The Prime Minister has not held a meeting of the National Board for Wildlife for seven years. It is supposed to be held twice a year”, he added.   If tigers were able to express themselves, they would have definitely wanted the ministers to look into the issues of poaching, check illegal mining ,felling  and encroachment of forest land and stem the rot of illegal mining and not the  politics behind  name change.

Nandhaur and Surai : Tiger Reserves in Waiting in Uttarakhand 

In states the across the country, political will for wildlife is at its lowest, says Thapar. No politician  would want curbs and restrictions in  their constituencies  to antagonize voters . One such example of lack of political will in Uttarakhand has not allowed Nandhaur sanctuary to become a tiger reserve, despite a clearance given by the centre.  Situated in Terai Arc landscape ,Nandhaur stretches till the Nepal border and has 40 tigers and healthy prey-base, said sources in the NTCA. 

Also read: Balloon Safari In Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve Creates Controversy

Four years ago in  2017, there was a motion  to  have two more tiger reserves in Uttarakhand.  The State Board for Wildlife had approved the plan to declare Nandhaur wildlife sanctuary in Nainital district, which stretches till Nepal border, as well as the Surai range bordering Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit — as tiger reserves. To make the area inviolate and safe for the tigers, the board also gave green signal for increasing the ex-gratia amount for kin of those killed due to human-wildlife conflict to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 2 lakh. In case of severe injury, a victim would have got a compensation of Rs 2 lakh. Earlier it was Rs 50,000. But it did not materialize because the state lacked political will, said a local official. With the number of tigers steadily on the rise , the authorities felt upgrading the two jungles to tiger reserves , necessary for the conservation of tigers.  

Also read: Avni's killing: Core Issue of Tiger Corridors Lost in Oblivion

“The number of tigers at Nandhaur sanctuary when it came into being in 2012 was nine which rose to 27 in 2018. The number of big cats is believed to be around 40 in 2021”,  state forest department sources said.  Situated close to the Nandhaur river in the Kumaon region and spread over an area of 269.5 sq km, Nandhaur is a precious piece of forest and needs to be protected.  However, the officials are apprehensive that the steady rise in the tiger population over the years and the growing trend indicated  “it would be difficult to  handle it  efficiently  for long with the limited resources”.  “ The situation is rather delicate from the point of view of tiger conservation”, officials said.  But the residents of Chorgaliya, which lies in the vicinity of Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary, had  opposed the proposal of Nandhaur tiger reserve saying that it would infringe upon their rights over the forests. BJP MLA Naveen Dumka supported them. He said, “ I respect their sentiments  as there is no need for the tiger reserve.” Following the opposition, the government withdrew its proposal. It would have been better if the Union minister for forest had advised the government to  issue notification for the tiger reserve status to the two jungles. 

Cover Image: Courtsey Jim Corbett national park 

Labels:
Location: Jim Corbett National Park, Nainital District, Ramnagar, Uttarakhand 244715, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tiger Corridor : Now Satpuda Melghat National Parks Connectivity At Risk

Much- hyped wildlife friendly NH7 passing   through the famous Kanha -Pench forest corridor and named after the two famous national parks should have 11.81 kms long under passes to let the wildlife have a safe passage. Instead the National Highways Authority of India (NHA) overlooked the rules and constructed only 4.41 km long underpasses compromising their dimensions.  Similarly in NH6, only 2.95 km of mitigation work was done against a schedule 8 kms length. Not everybody knows this truth.  Now NHAI seems to be completely violating the Wildlife (Protection) act 1973 while constructing a road patch on NH46 ( Hoshangabad -Betul). This is a functional tiger corridor connecting Melghat and Satpura tiger reserves. Now the connectivity is also as threatened as the tiger itself.  No Lessons Learnt From NH6 Kanha- Pench Corridor The reduced length of structures in  MH6  and NH7  -connecting East with the West and  North with the South  respect...
2 comments
Read more

3 Years In: Unveiling the Truth About India's Cheetah Project

Three years on, India’s cheetah reintroduction struggles with poor science, delays, and missed grassland goals. In September 2022, the arrival of eight cheetahs from Namibia to Kuno National Park was hailed as a conservation milestone. Five months later in February 2024, 12 more spotted cats arrived from South Africa. The initiative, branded Project Cheetah, carried lofty ambitions. It aimed not just to restore the world’s fastest land animal to India’s landscapes, but to revive open natural ecosystems (ONEs) — the grasslands, scrublands, and savannahs that are among the country’s most neglected habitats. By reintroducing a top predator, policymakers hoped to spark wider conservation attention, diversify India’s wildlife portfolio beyond tigers and forests, and make ecological amends for a human-caused extinction. The Cheetah Action Plan set out a clear roadmap: import 5–10 cheetahs annually for a decade, create a metapopulation across multiple states, secure and restore grassland hab...
Post a Comment
Read more

Urban Tigers On The Prowl in Bhopal

  Two sub- adult tigers, now more than 24 months’ of age, seem to have started exploring the city of Bhopal. On October 3 night, one of them explored the sprawling campus of a regional engineering college located on a hillock in Bhopal. The tiger sighting led to panic. In the adjoining hostels, students were advised to stay indoors.  For the last over a year or so, these tigers have already been accompanying their mother  as the trio roam the city outskirts.  Termed as urban tigers by the state forest department, there are as many as six resident tigers of Bhopal. In all there are 18 tigers moving about in a forest corridor near Bhopal and one third of them are now  city residents – born and brought up in the jungles near Bhopal. There seems to be no action plan with the government  which apparently awaits some major man-animal conflict in the tiger movement area.  Exploring New Territory Now the forest department has placed a cage to trap the tiger in...
Post a Comment
Read more