Reintroduction of Cheetah

• Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change launched the Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India under which 50 Cheetah will be introduced in the next five years.
• The cheetah is the only large carnivore to have gone extinct in India in the 1950s due to hunting and loss of habitat.

About

• This action plan was launched at the 19th meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
• National Tiger Conservation Authority is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
• In 2021, the Supreme Court lifted its seven-year-long stay on a proposal to introduce African Cheetahs from Namibia into the Indian habitat.

Key Points

• Reintroduction of a species means releasing it in an area where it is capable of surviving.
• Reintroductions has been recognised as a strategy to conserve threatened species and restore ecosystem functions.
• The conservation of the cheetah will revive grasslands and their biomes and habitat

Reintroduction Action Plan:

• With the help of the Wildlife Institute of India and the Wildlife Trust of India, the ministry will translocate around 8-12 cheetahs from South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.
• Kuno Palpur National Park in Madhya Pradesh has been chosen for reintroduction due to its suitable habitat and adequate prey base.

Cheetah

• The cheetah is one of the oldest of the big cat species, with ancestors that can be traced back more than five million years to the Miocene era.
• It is also the world’s fastest land mammal that lives in Africa and Asia.

Asiatic Cheetah:

• Smaller and paler than the African cheetah.
• They have more fur, a smaller head and a longer neck.
• Usually have red eyes and they have a more cat-like appearance.
• IUCN status - Critically Endangered
• CITES list of endangered species: Appendix I

African Cheetah:

• Bigger in size as compared to Asiatic Cheetah.
• IUCN status: Vulnerable
• CITES list of endangered species: Appendix I"