Cheetahs may be flown in from new countries

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Last Updated28/09/2023

Wildlife experts associated with Project Cheetah are considering options of importing the next batch of big cats from countries other than South Africa and Namibia.

It is India’s cheetah relocation programme.
This is the first intercontinental reintroduction of a wild, large carnivore species.
The project is to bring in 5-10 animals every year, over the next decade, until a self-sustaining population of cheetahs is established.
Asiatic Cheetahs were once abundant in India but the last cheetah in the country died in 1952.
The animals brought from Namibia and South Africa are the Southeast African cheetahs.
Under Project Cheetah, the animals are translocated from the forests of South Africa and Namibia to the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.
Since last year, Kuno National Park has received 20 cheetahs with the aim of establishing a free-ranging population.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is the apex body entrusted with the implementation of Project Cheetah.
NTCA comes under the Ministry of forest, environment and climate change.
The Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) is also assisting the Indian government in reintroducing cheetahs in India.

It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
It was established in 2005 following the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force.
It was constituted under enabling provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006, for strengthening tiger conservation, as per powers and functions assigned to it.