The Wildlife India

Posts

Showing posts with the label South African Cheetah

Prolonged Cheetah Captivity in Kuno Delays Next Batch of Cheetah

India intends to bring 12 cheetahs annually for 8 to 10 years to continue its ambitious cheetah introduction project. But for the past 18 months, the country has not been able to procure cheetahs from any of the countries in Africa where cheetahs are found . Apparently they- the African countries are "quite worried over the fact that none of the surviving cheetahs in India are free ranging" - meaning they are still placed inside large enclosures or bomas in Kuno national park ”, confides a senior official in Delhi.Death of cheetah Pawan further worsens the situation. India’s much hyped and ambitious Cheetah reintrodution project seems to have hit a major roadblock. The first batch of 8 cheetahs reached India in September 2022 followed by 12 more spotted cats from South Africa in February 2023. Why India Not Getting Cheetahs Restoring cheetah populations is considered by India to have vital and far-reaching conservation ...

Drones, Dogs Help Catch Cheetah Nirva In Kuno

Officials in the Union ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFC&C) and those involved in cheetah translocation in Namibia and South Africa heaved a huge sigh of relief after Nirva, the female cheetah missing since July 21 was captured in Kuno national park . But the operation to capture Nirva was a huge exercise and, perhaps, has no parallel in the history of wildlife conservation in India. Spreading over 150 hours stretched in 22 days, more than 100 forest department personnel, looked out for a cheetah in a rain drenched jungle. Day in , day out ,they walked on foot, rode elephants, flew drones and deployed dogs in search of the cheetah. Hard work and perseverance paid off and Nirva was caught and captured. “Nirva is healthy and has been kept inside boma for further health check-up”, said Aseem Shrivastava, the chief wildlife warden of Madhya Pradesh. Nirva in Kuno was Like Needle in Haystack Operation Nirva began in ...

Not Leopards, A Different 'Predator' is Killing Kuno Cheetahs

When the cheetah project was planned , the presence of a large number of leopards in Kuno national park was considered as the biggest threat to the smaller spotted cats. But an altogether 'new predator'- unknown and unheard of- is stalking the African cheetahs in Kuno killing two cheetahs. Namibia to South Africa to Delhi, cheetah managers have expressed grave concern. It is a 400 gram satellite collar killing the cheetahs. The collars were placed around their neck to keep a track of the cheetahs translocated from the two African countries. African experts have recommended close monitoring of the cheetahs still in the enclosures in Kuno and replace them with better collars. Collars Inflict Wounds Two cheetahs- first Tejas in an enclosure and then Suraj in the open forest- died. Injuries over their neck were the common factor in both the cases. After initial confusion over the injuries, experts realized the death wa...

Back to Back Cheetah Deaths in Kuno: South African Expert Unhappy Over Communication Gap

Close on the heels of the death of Tejas, the male cheetah, another cheetah died in Kuno national park on Friday ( July 14) . This is the first cheetah casualty in the open forest of Kuno where Suraj , the sub- adult who died , was released on June 25. Suraj’s body carried injury marks, perhaps, the result of a fight with some carnivore. The male cheetah died two days after Tejas whose body was found in his enclosure. Besides, 3 cheetah cubs born in captivity had also died taking the cheetah death toll to 8. Back to back cheetah deaths seem to have ratteled the officials in Delhi leading to lack of communication between them and their counterparts in South African resulting into non-participation of an important South African member of Cheetah Project Steering Committee in an important meeting on July 14. First Death In Open Forest Though high mortality of cheetahs are expected in the project, eight deaths in a sp...

Is Forest Fencing Issue Impacting Cheetah Project ?

When the Indian authorities are gearing up for the release of more cheetahs in the open forests of Kuno national park , serious differences seem to have emerged between a key African cheetah expert and the Indian officials at the helm of affairs of cheetah introduction programme in India. The difference of opinion on the issues of fenced jungle for cheetahs ,lack of prey and man power emerged after the death of six cheetahs including three cubs .Though the cheetah action plan already mentions high mortality in the reintroduction of the African species of the cat in India, half a dozen cheetah deaths seems to have rattled the Indo-African team managing the spotted cat in Kuno. Eight months after the release of the cats from Africa by the Prime Minister Modi in September last year, many apprehensions expressed by a number of experts and biologists over the project seem to have come true. Questions are being raised again- Wh...

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...

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...

How would Cheetahs in Kuno Meet and Mate ?

Female cheetah and cubs.Even this picture released by India's Press Information Bureaue says something. Eversince cheetah introduction in Kuno national park , officials are dreaming for this day. But a section of these officials also believe that these cats continue to live under stress and there is an uncertainty over breeding. They need to meet and mate. But how ? Will they be able to do so as they are going to follow many more months of stress when they are released in open. Now that the Namibian cheetahs are ready for release in the open forest from the closed confines of the present 5 square km fenced housing, many in the cheetah monitoring team are concerned over the future of their reproduction- an important land mark in cheetah conservation and the ultimate aim of the introduction of the foreign species of the cat in India. From Namibia to India , to small enclosure in Kuno to the five sq km boma, they will ...

South African Cheetahs to Arrive Kuno National Park in October

After the release of 8 cheetahs from Namibia on September 17 in Kuno National Park (KNP) of Madhya Pradesh, South Africa will send an additional 12 cheetahs to India in October. More and more cheetahs will continue to be airlifted to India in the coming years till the “genetically viable population” of the spotted cat is not established. Cheetah Top Up To Continue To Create Genetically Viable Population Though an MoU is yet to be signed with South Africa, it is likely to be done soon. Recently a team of South African officials visited Kuno to take first hand information. Among others, the team comprised scientific co-ordinator, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Michele Pfab, deputy director CITES Policy Development & Implementation at department of Environmental Affairs, Mpho Tjiane , Policy Analyst at the department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment, Dzunisani Makhubele. The team is likely to submit its report soon and i...