Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh Forest Department has demanded an alternative site for the cheetahs brought from the Center to Kuno National Park, citing a lack of resources and space. It is noteworthy that two cheetahs have died in KNP in less than a month. A senior forest official of the state said on the condition of anonymity that they do not have enough resources (logistic support) to maintain the 20 cheetahs brought in two batches from Namibia and South Africa since September last year.
We need nine staff to keep an eye on one leopard round the clock, the official told PTI. We don’t have enough staff. When asked about the paucity of space for cheetahs, he said that the issue is secondary, we need not only space but a lot of resources. Significantly, before the cheetahs were brought to the KNP under the Cheetah Restoration Project, some experts had raised doubts about the lack of space there.
The ‘core area’ of KNP is 748 sq km and the buffer zone is 487 sq km. A day earlier on Sunday, the second cheetah died in less than a month in KNP. The cheetah that died was named Uday and was six years old. He was transferred from South Africa in February this year. An official had told that the exact reason for the death of this cheetah is yet to be known. The incident is being seen as a major setback for the ambitious cheetah restoration project.
Eight cheetahs from Namibia in September 2022 and 12 from South Africa in February this year were translocated to the KNP in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district under the Cheetah Restoration Project. One of Namibia’s eight cheetahs, named Sasha, died at the KNP on March 27 due to kidney disease. He was more than four and a half years old. Another cheetah named Siya recently gave birth to four cubs at KNP. In addition, Cheetah Oban, now named Pawan, has strayed from the KNP several times.
Madhya Pradesh’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) JS Chauhan told PTI that his department has written to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) requesting an alternative location for the cheetahs. NTCA is monitoring the Cheetah Restoration Project in India. He said, “We have written the letter a few days ago. According to forest officials, the letter demanded that the Center decide on an alternative site for the cheetahs.
“If we start developing our sites like Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary or Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh as alternate sites for cheetahs, it will take two years and three years respectively,” said an official. The central government has to play a major role, he said. We need a note from the Center to move forward. We desperately need intervention from the Centre. If they do not take a decision, it will be detrimental to the interest of the Cheetah Project.
We cannot release all the 18 cheetahs in the KNP into the wild, the official said. According to some wildlife experts, a cheetah requires an area of 100 square kilometers. However, KNP director Uttam Sharma said, the cheetah went extinct in India seven decades ago. Given the fact that no one knows how much space a cheetah requires. In fact, we are learning about them after the translocation of cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa.
