India should drop the idea of Ken Betwa Linking Project (KBLP) which will require felling of 2 to 4 million trees in the emerald forests of Panna national park . Think of the loss of this staggering number of trees in the backdrop of the unprecedented summers that the country experienced in the year 2024. Many parts of Bundelkhand where Panna is situated recorded 49 degrees Celsius while the mercury soared to 52.9 degrees C in Delhi, later corrected by the government to 50 degrees C (49.9). For a moment forget the loss of tiger habitat in the park, think over our own survival. Referring to the special morphological significance and unique biodiversity of Panna national park, the central empowered committee of the Supreme Court on the KBLP observed ," implementing this project would result in the complete breakdown of the evolutionary processes of millions of years." It warned of the widespread ecological devastation.River Ken is lifeline of the tiger reser
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 Action Plan with an unscientific approach relying on “ decade-old flawed projections from Namibia”. Making a scathing attack on the translocation project of the iconic species in Kuno National Park, 8 scientists and conservationists wrote in the international journal that the project may lead to “human –cheetah conflict”. They said it was a flawed project and “advised” the government to “prepare a revised science based” action plan. In reply, 12 cheetah experts Adrian S W Tordiffe, Yadvendradev V Jhala ,Luigi Boitani ,Bogdan Cristescu ,Richard A Kock , Leith R C, Meyer, Simon Naylor , Stephen J O’Brien ,Anne Schmidt-Küntzel, Mark R Stanley Price ,Vincent van der Merwe and Laurie Marker defended the project. While Tordiffe is a key personality for the cheetah project in South Africa and also a faculty of veterinary science in Pretoria university, Jhala is an eminent scientist from the Wildlife Institute of India and was instrumental in cheetah introduction in Kuno. In a sudden move the government cut short his services by one year his services surprising many. Others include experts from different universities of Namibia, USA and England among others. Two important figures include Merwe and Laurie Marker and belong respectively from the Metapopulation Initiative and Cheetah Conservation FundNamibia. They said “ We have been involved in scientifically advising on the Indian reintroduction project, and we respectfully disagree ( with the theory that the action plan was flawed and needs to prepare a science based plan).
Also read: Cheetahs In Kuno National Park : Future Tense !
“ Herein, we address each of Gopalaswamy (
the lead author of the group against the project) and colleagues’
arguments and offer scientific evidence in support of this ongoing, restorative
conservation effort”, they said. They also write “Cheetahs historically
occupied an ecological niche within Indian savannahs and open forest systems
that is now vacant. Filling this void would contribute to the restoration of
the functional ecology of these systems through top-down processes. Restoring
species and their roles in ecosystems is essential for effective and
comprehensive rewilding, and carnivore reintroduction is particularly important
for ecosystem restoration”.
Also read: Ultimate Test When Cheetahs Face Leopards in Kuno National Park
They
also argue “The primary threats, including poaching and human–wild- life
conflict, that caused cheetah extinction in India have abated through effective
legislation and enforcement. Furthermore, reintroduction was proposed within
protected sites in the historical range after habitat and pre availability and
anthropogenic pressures were assessed. There are currently about 100,000
square of legally protected wildlife reserves within the historical range
of the cheetah in India that can potentially accommodate breeding cheetah
populations and, according to our assessment, 700,000 square of total habitat
that can potentially sustain cheetah occupancy.”
"Distorted Picture of True Situation"
This rebuttal from Tordiffe , Jhala and their colleagues almost coincided with the arrival of cheetahs from South Africa. This was delayed by almost five months. Following this write up, thewildlifeindia.com attempted to take the reaction of those who had been skeptical over the cheetah project. Not all of them could be contracted .But some of them like Gus Mills ,considered as the world’s most experienced wild cheetah biologist and ecologist, has reacted sharply. Gus says,” You can’t restore an ecosystem by simply introducing large carnivores. Before such introduction, the habitat and prey populations need to be taken care of. Restoration should be bottom up, not top down as is stated in the paper”.
Referring
to another point raised by Tordiffe and his colleagues over the primary
threats, including poaching and human–wildlife conflict, that caused cheetah
extinction in India have abated through effective legislation and
enforcement , Gus pointed out, “ The primary threat to cheetahs is habitat
degradation. Has this been adequately addressed in more than a microcosm of the
100,000 square km protected sites, never mind the 700,000 square
kms potential areas of cheetah occupancy, and given the human population
density in India, will it ever be possible to do so? These figures are giving a
highly distorted picture of the true situation.”
Also read: How would Cheetahs in Kuno Meet and Mate ?
To another point raised by the project proponents -all extant cheetah subspecies have a similar genetic distance from the Asiatic cheetah. The southern African cheetah population has the greatest documented genetic diversity, Gus said, “Are not the Horn of Africa -cheetahs genetically the closest to the Asiatic ones, and is there not a population of this subspecies available, at least in the medium term, for a reintroduction program? ” He also contested the view that the managed cheetah metapopulation in southern Africa (about 500 individuals) is increasing at 8.8% per annum and claimed ,” This is a highly managed cheetah population, with artificially high prey densities South Africa should consolidate its approach to metapopulation management by consolidating reserves and not artificially harvesting populations.” The Horn -of -Africa Cheetah Landscape is a large area of great concern for cheetah conservation that covers Somalia and the eastern and southern parts of Ethiopia, the south-eastern corner of South Sudan and a northern strip of Kenya. It is of special interest due to the illegal trade in cheetahs which is understood to be sourcing live cubs from this part of the continent for sale as pets to the Middle East.
Also read: Cheetah Revives Hopes Of Wolf Howling
Reacting on the issue of fenced and unfenced parks- ( Kuno is an unfenced national park with about 748 square km of core area), the Tordiffe and his colleagues claimed that , “ In a different project in Namibia, 36 cheetahs were successfully released onto farmlands, or unfenced or fenced reserves, with 75–96% of individuals achieving independence after release and a high annual survival rate. Gus clarified, “ Laurie Marker has found that cheetah home ranges in this part of Namibia are enormous, by far the largest that have been measured, over 2000 square km”.
Dr Abi Tamim Vanak , an animal ecologist and conservation biologist focusing on the ecology and conservation of India's semi-arid savanna grasslands has reacted on the claims that filling the “void of Indian savannahs and open forest systems “ would contribute to the restoration of the functional ecology of these systems through top-down processes. The senior faculty at Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment said, “ In a recent paper, we showed that the majority of savannah grasslands and other Open natural ecosystems are not protected. Indeed, over 70% of them are classified as “Wastelands” by the Ministry of Rural Development.” He said that “ These grasslands already harbour critically endangered species such as the Great Indian bustard, black buck, Indian wolf and other species that are rapidly declining. We call for an urgent action plan on conserving these ecosystems for their inherent biodiversity values, as well as the livelihood benefits they provide to millions of people.”
By Deshdeep Saxena
Representational Images. Cover Pic : CCF Cheetah
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