Out of Africa, into the void

NEW DELHI: Last week, three of the four cheetah cubs born at the Kuno National Park, MP died due to natural causes. The death of these cubs, part of the first litter born in India, follows the passing of three adult cheetahs. It has just been three months since South Africa sent a batch of 12 cheetahs to India, of which two have died, while the third cheetah was one of the eight sent from Namibia. About 15% of these predators translocated to India have failed to get past Phase 1 of our ambitious Project Cheetah. The government has constituted a new committee of experts to monitor the programme.

The project aims at establishing a self-sustainable population of around 35 cheetahs over the next 10 years by introducing five to 10 animals from Africa annually. The species had supposedly been driven to extinction in India over 75 years ago. The programme bears the fatalistic assumption that a significant number of cheetahs will perish owing to their natural lifespan. Cheetah cubs have a survival rate of 10%, and only one in 10 cubs makes it to adulthood. There are hurdles of adapting to Indian forest ecosystems too. Unlike predators in South Africa that thrive in fenced reserves, cheetahs here will be exposed to non-barricaded wild conditions.

At Kuno, 11 adult cheetahs have been placed in customised enclosures to help them adapt to the Indian ecosystem, while six of them have been released into the wild. The panel hopes to release all animals into the open by the end of this year. But there are several nagging problems. Dr Yadvendradev Vikramsinh Jhala, the dean of the Wildlife Institute of India, was one of the experts assigned to the cheetah conservation initiative. He had revealed that three of the eight Namibian cheetahs quarantined for translocation, were unable to hunt for wild prey. Despite him sounding this off, the eight predators were flown into India, and the expert was replaced.

Another concern is the quarantine period. One of the cheetahs that died – Uday – had spent close to 10 months in captivity before he was relocated to Kuno. Specialists remarked that capturing animals born in free ranging conditions and keeping them in captivity for extended durations, is a recipe for disaster. The diet fed to the animals has also been called problematic. Their natural diet usually comprises antelopes like impala, springbuck, nilgai, and deer like chital and sambar. However, they are currently offered buffalo and goat meat.

The Kuno National Park is also being viewed by some experts as inadequate to contain 20 cheetahs, and it was suggested some of them should be moved to other sanctuaries as there is an imbalance between prey and predator. The animal is also known to be a courser that needs extensive swathes for movement. The government is optimistic about the experiment as the success of any such programme involving wildlife breeding has to be measured over longer periods – a case in point being India’s Project Tiger, and the increase in lion population in Gir, Gujarat.

The cheetah translocation transpired as a result of efforts of the government since 2009 towards the cause of wildlife conservation. So, one cannot write off the programme as yet. But, the government, aided by wildlife agencies, must maintain a robust progress report on the well-being of our new guests and ensure that the conservation of these wildcats does not turn into a wild goose chase.

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