12 extra Cheetahs to be dropped at India from South Africa

On sixteenth February 2023, Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change introduced the relocation of twelve Cheetahs from South Africa to India. The cheetahs might be dropped at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park on February 18, 2023. This would be the second batch of cheetahs dropped at India, after 8 cheetahs introduced from Namibia had been launched in Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on 17 September 2022.

The minister tweeted that the 8 cheetahs who got here to India in September 2022 have tailored effectively, and India is now able to welcome 12 extra cheetahs from South Africa.

The 8 cheetahs who got here to India in September 2022, beneath the formidable and visionary planning of PM Shri @narendramodi ji, have tailored effectively.

India is now able to welcome 12 extra cheetahs from South Africa. #ProfessionalPlanetPeople pic.twitter.com/kGYam8oGDk

— Bhupender Yadav (@byadavbjp) February 16, 2023

 A C-17 Globemaster plane of the Indian Air Force will deliver the 12 cheetahs, which embrace 7 males and 5 females, from South Africa. According to Project Cheetah extra director SP Yadav, The navy transport plane took off for South Africa from Hindon Air Force Station in the present day at 6 AM. The plane is predicted to land at 12:30 PM (South Africa time) at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johansaberg. The aircraft will take off tomorrow with the cheetahs, and it’ll land at Gwalior airport on at round 10:00 AM on 18 February. From Gwalior, they are going to be taken to Kuno National Park in Mi-17 helicopters.

VIDEO | “IAF’s C-17 Globemaster took off for South Africa from Hindon airbase today. It will return to Gwalior on Feb 18. The Cheetahs will be translocated from Gwalior to Kuno National Park in Mi-17 helicopters”: Project Cheetah extra director SP Yadav to @PTI_News pic.twitter.com/7cPSWIRCNN

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 16, 2023

During the intercontinental translocation experiment, a delegation of cheetah consultants, veterinarians, and high authorities might be with these cheetahs. Upon their arrival in India, all 12 cheetahs might be positioned in specifically designed enclosures in Kuno National Park at some stage in the mandatory quarantine interval, throughout which the animals might be intently watched.

A session session together with worldwide cheetah specialists, biologists, veterinarians, and forest authorities has been scheduled for February twentieth at Kuno National Park to maneuver India’s formidable Cheetah Introduction venture forward. The workshop’s outcomes will pave the trail for higher cheetah administration and can support within the profitable institution of cheetah metapopulations in India.

According to a press launch by PIB, Bhupender Yadav acknowledged that reintroducing the Cheetah to India will contribute to the restoration of the nation’s pure heritage. He additionally expressed gratitude to the Defence Ministry and the Indian Air Force for his or her unwavering help for the relocation. He additionally mentioned the ministry’s quite a few efforts in animal conservation, similar to Project Cheetah, the LIFE idea and its sustainability, Green progress tasks similar to Green Credit, Mishti – for mangrove safety, and Gaj Utsav, amongst others.

As per the Action Plan for Cheetah Introduction in India, yearly 10-12 cheetahs are anticipated to be introduced from African international locations for the following 5 years a minimum of. In this backdrop, the Government of India started bilateral discussions with the Republic of South Africa in 2021 to collaborate on cheetah conservation. The discussions had been efficiently completed in January 2023 with the signing of an Agreement with the Republic of South Africa. The Agreement offers for the translocation of a primary batch of 12 cheetahs (7 males and 5 females) from South Africa to India.

Cheetahs had been declared extinct in India in 1952

The final three cheetahs in India had been shot within the Sal (Shorea robusta) woods of Koriya District, Chhattisgarh State, in 1947. The main causes for the cheetah’s extinction in India had been large-scale seize of animals from the wild for coursing, bounty, and sport looking, substantial habitat modification, and a concomitant fall in prey base. Cheetahs had been declared extinct in India in 1952.

Following this, efforts had began to reintroduce Cheetahs from different international locations. But the efforts didn’t yield outcomes for many years. But after renewed efforts beneath the Narendra Modi authorities, the venture noticed success and eight cheetahs had been launched final 12 months in India.

Narendra Modi authorities introduced cheetahs again

On September 17, 2022, eight cheetahs had been introduced from Namibia to India and launched in Kuno National Park by India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in a historic first wild-to-wild intercontinental relocation. Following the compulsory quarantine time, the cheetahs had been regularly allowed into the larger habitat. In phrases of pure conduct, bodily situation, exercise sample, and common health, all eight particular person animals are doing exceptionally effectively. Cheetahs are all doing effectively and looking pure prey.

While IAF’s C-17 Globemaster plane is bringing the second batch, the primary batch was translocated by a particular Boeing 747-400 plane. As the chartered aircraft had a tiger face painted on it, a number of media experiences had claimed that it was specifically painted for the flight. But it was unsuitable, because it was a tiger face, not a cheetah, and it was painted a number of years in the past when the plane was owned by a Russian airline. The Siberian tiger face was painted on it to create consciousness about the necessity to defend the tigers and the setting as an entire, in collaboration with Amur Tiger Centre. However, the aircraft’s inside was modified to move the cheetahs, together with the removing of all economy-class seats.

As the Globemaster is a transport plane, it won’t require a lot modification to accommodate the cages of the cheetahs.