The return of cheetahs to India

Image: Quantum-Conservation.org

We don’t blog about wildlife too often, but I was intrigued by a recent article in The Guardian that reported the precipitous return of cheetahs to India. Indeed, the cheetah is to return to India more than 60 years after hunters shot the last three on the subcontinent.

Sites are currently being picked for the reintroduction of the animal. Eight cheetahs are being brought into India from countries including Iran, Namibia and South Africa. The budget for the reintroduction project is around £500,000 ($816,000 Canadian). Cheetahs will help restore the grasslands of the country and put pressure on state governments to enforce wildlife protection to ensure the animal's sustainability.

Wildlife, specifically tigers, have been adversely affected by poor wildlife protection policies across India. Conflicts between poor local communities and tigers, corruption and smuggling tiger parts to east Asia are only some of the reasons why the tiger population has shrunk drastically. India's population growth has also put immense pressure and stress on the tigers effectively encroaching on their territory. In fact, the tiger population shrunk from 3,600 in 2002 to 1,400 in 2010.

There is widespread enthusiasm for the return of the cheetahs; however, experts have noted that the herds of deer and antelopes --that once provided the cheetah’s diet-- are long gone. Thus, they think such a reintroduction –while a matter of national importance—is futile and bound to fail given the harsh conditions. Nonetheless, this decision, led by Indian Minister for the Environment, Jairam Ramesh, is critical because the cheetah is the only animal to have become extinct and such reintroduction signifies a renewed commitment to wildlife preservation.

The three reintroduction sites are the Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary and Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary, in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, and Shahgarh in the desert near Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. "All three sites will aim to sustain a population of more than 100 cheetahs and create a tourist business" that will benefit local communities among other things.

Key message: India’s commitment to wildlife protection has thus far been less than impressive. While it is easy to criticize the reintroduction of the once extinct cheetah, I commend the country on its renewed interest to this very important matter. I hope that tigers will also receive more respect and be provided with more space, unmolested by human stresses.