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Showing posts from March, 2023

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...
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All That You Should Know About Project Cheetah In India

  The Story so far . The pleasant surprise of the birth of four cubs after the news of the death of the female cheetah Sasha in Kuno national park may have alleviated the pain; Sasha’s death has raised many questions. Amidst denial by cheetah conservation fund (CCF) that Sasha was unwell a year before she was brought to India, the question that is being asked is why she along with two more cheetahs was chosen when she  was not suited for the wild. Leading Indian scientist   and conservationist YV Jhala had already raised the issue of his objection through an email to the government before these animals were translocated to India.    Semi Wild Sasha Good For Soft Release, Not So for the Wild    Jhala was the architect of the project and author of the cheetah action plan and is the best  brain to understand the issue .He coordinated at international level for the translocation of the iconic species. But almost immediately after the trans...
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Namibian Cheetah Siyayya Gives Birth To Four Cubs In Kuno

Two days after the death of Sasha, the female cheetah in Kuno national park, there is good news coming from the jungle . Siyayya another Namibian cheetah, still in an enclosure gave birth to four cubs. As the officials celebrate the occasion, they call cubs “ 4 Indian cheetahs after 75 years”. Under chetah translocation propject, 8 cheetahs were brought from Namibia on September 17 last year.   Born In An Enclosure Siyayya is still living in a 150 hectare enclosure inside Kuno national park where “she had interacted with Freddie and Elton, the two males “.  After the 8 Namibian cheetahs were airlifted to Kuno and quarantined before their release to different  enclosures, the two males were released in a bigger enclosure - number 4- of about 150 hectare. Siyayya was released also in the neighbouring enclosure number 5.  First they interacted from behind the wired fence   but   sometime around third week of December the gate between the two enc...
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Namibian Cheetah Sasha Dies In Kuno National Park

Sasha, one of the 8 cheetahs translocated from Namibia in September last year and released in Kuno national park , died on March 27. After almost two months’ of illness, the five year old female cheetah died in the morning.  Addditional chief secretary forest department JS Kansotia confirmed this.  Sasha was diagnosed with hepatorenal, a kidney and liver-related infection, in the last week of January, four months after she was brought to Kuno in September 2022.  Sasha was  brought up in captivity in Namibia after she was picked up in malnourished  condition in a farm field there . Knowing her health conditions, Indian officials had even objected to her translocation as they apprehended that she might not last in the wild. Renal Complications  On January 23 , the female cheetah  had showed signs of fatigue and weakness, after which she was tranquilised and shifted to the quarantine enclosure for treatment. “Two days after medicines had been injected int...
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As You Watch The Elephant Whisperer, Let's Learn The Plight Of The Pachyderm

  The ElephantWhisperer - the Oscar winning  short documentary - may have  touched the hearts of millions as it narrated the story of the two calves and the animal loving couple, a large number of elephant calves are actually not lucky enough to  get such affection and compassion. As the great elephant migration continues   from east to west across India,  the real-life plight of the pachyderm is different from the reel- life love, often portrayed in the movies. L et's pause and  understand  why ,a midst squeezing habitat, food and fodder shortage, the elephant in India is more endangered than the highly protected tiger. These gentle giants need more space and food as compared to the big cat. 100 Elephants Die Every Year  The ever increasing quest for land by a growing human population throughout the Indian elephant’s habitat is leaving  a very little room for the “ intelligent beast” . The situation is further aggravated by Illegal...
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More Questions On Cheetah Project in Kuno

Atlast the process of releasing cheetahs in the  open forest of Kuno national park began albeit with some delay. And this has happened at a time when some fresh controversies are surrounding the already controvertial cheetah project. After two cheetahs – one each  male and a female- were released, more  cheetahs will be  out in the open forest of Kuno  ,  the  site selection   of which has been questioned by  none other than  a key Indian wildlife scientist, who was also the lead author of Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India . YV Jhala , whose  tenure as the dean of the prestigious Wildlife Institute of India (WII) was recently cut short  abruptly , has also made several  revelations  related to the project . Soon the managers of the cheetah project are all set to face a situation when the cheetahs cross over the 748 sq km area of the park to venture out in the neighbouring villages and fields, an ev...
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Cheetahs in Kuno: Deep Divide Over the Project

  As more and more African cheetahs are brought to Kuno national park in an attempt to introduce them in India, the International community of   cheetah conservationists and scientists are deeply divided over the controversial conservation project in the jungle- originally earmarked as a second home to Asiatic lions. Conservationists and scientists  for and against the project have been  expressing their opinion in an international journal - Nature ecology & evolution .  About five months after  a group of eminent scientists and  experts  criticized the project , those in favour of it including a group from  Namibia and South Africa “respectfully disagreed” .  But the critics have reacted sharply over the “scientific evidence” produced in support of the ongoing cheetah project. "Restoring Species Essential " About six months ago a team of international scientists and biologists questioned the “incomplete”   Cheetah A...
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