In an unfortunate turn of events, two cheetahs who were translocated to Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park (KNP) from South Africa died last week. The incident has now generated several questions in the realm as wildlife enthusiasts have claimed discrepancies in handling them at their new habitat. Amid this, a former Wildlife Institute of India (WII) official has claimed that there is ‘inadequate space’ for these animals. Currently, 22 felines, including four newly borne cubs are residing in KNP.
WII official claims ‘inadequate space at KNP for cheetahs’
Amid this, a former official of the Wildlife Institute of India has claimed that there was “inadequate space” for these felines brought from Arica. Yadvendradev Vikramsinh Jhala, former dean of The Wildlife Institute of India (WII), told PTI that KNP has “inadequate space” for these animals.
“A 750 sq km area alone is not sufficient…We have to make (more than one) cheetah population and manage it like a metapopulation where you move animals from one place to another. It is very essential to establish a second, third population,” he said.
”Kuno is a protected area, but the landscape in which cheetahs can live in Kuno is spread over 5,000 sq km, which includes agricultural parts, forested habitats, communities living within the area,” he said. He said cheetahs will only be able to thrive at KNP if they first adapt to the environment
”So, it all depends on how we manage the communities, ecotourism, giving them incentives, making sure that (human-animal) conflict levels are appropriately compensated if there are any,” Jhala said.
“To shift one or three cheetahs after one, two generations from here to there is called metapopulation management so that there is genetic exchange. This is an important exercise. Without this, we can’t manage cheetahs in our country,” he said. “Without this, we can’t have viability in the long run,” Jhala added.
NTCA to review the ‘Cheetah Reintroduction Action Plan’ soon
A team from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) will soon visit KNP to review the implementation of the ‘reintroduction of cheetahs’ project.
Meanwhile, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) Wildlife of Madhya Pradesh J. S. Chouhan has written to NTCA to find an alternative enclosure to shift some cheetahs from KNP.
“We have sent a request letter by official mail to the NTCA….They have not replied yet,” a forest official also told PTI. “We have sent a request letter by official mail to the NTCA….They have not replied yet,” he added.
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