Gujarat's Banni Grasslands ready to host cheetahs, say officials

Jaipal Singh, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Gujarat, said that a breeding centre for cheetahs has been set up and efforts are underway to further enhance the prey population of chital and sambar.

New Delhi: The Banni Grasslands in Gujarat, the largest such expanse in the Indian subcontinent and one of the 10 sites selected for cheetah rehabilitation in the country, is now fully prepared to host the big cats, officials said on Wednesday.

Jaipal Singh, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Gujarat, told PTI that a breeding centre for cheetahs has been set up and efforts are underway to further enhance the prey population of chital and sambar.

"We are ready with everything, including quarantine and soft release bomas (enclosures). However, the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Cheetah Project Steering Committee will decide when the animals will be brought here," he said.

Singh said a 600-hectare enclosure has been developed, the herbivore population has been increased, and facilities such as CCTV monitoring and a dedicated veterinary centre have been established.

Fences have been installed to prevent the infiltration of other large carnivores into the cheetah enclosures. Veterinarians have also been trained at Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park, the first site in India to host cheetahs translocated from Africa, he added.

According to the plan to introduce cheetahs in the Banni Grasslands, the natural habitat preferences of cheetahs in Africa include grasslands, savannahs and scrublands, and the habitat conditions in Banni closely match these.

Vantara, a Jamnagar-based rescue, conservation and rehabilitation facility of the Reliance Foundation, posted on Instagram that in collaboration with the Gujarat Forest Department, it has reintroduced spotted deer into the Banni Grasslands.

"The introduction of spotted deer marks a key step in restoring ecological balance in Banni. As a committed partner, Vantara supports this effort with scientific expertise, veterinary care and technical support, working alongside the government to protect India's natural heritage," it said.

Singh said the move is part of broader efforts to increase the prey population in the arid grassland landscape.

Officials said that cheetahs are likely to be introduced in the Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh before they are sent to the Bunni Grasslands.

The state government officially declared Veerangana Durgavati a tiger reserve in September 2023. Located about 20 kilometres from Bhopal, it spans 2,339 square kilometres and covers parts of Narsinghpur, Sagar and Damoh districts.

An NTCA team reviewed the preparations in the tiger reserve in June.

Thereafter, officials said, cheetahs will be introduced into the Bunni grasslands in Gujarat's Kutch district and then in the Shahgarh Bulge region in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan.

The 10 potential sites listed in the action plan for cheetah introduction are: Guru Ghasidas National Park in Chhattisgarh; Banni grasslands in Gujarat; Dubri Wildlife Sanctuary, Sanjay National Park, Bagdara Wildlife Sanctuary, Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary (now Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve) and Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh; Desert National Park and Shahgarh grasslands in Rajasthan and Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh.

Seventy years after cheetahs went extinct in India, the government launched the Project Cheetah to establish a sustainable population of the big cat in the country.

As part of the reintroduction effort, 20 African cheetahs were brought to Kuno National Park: eight from Namibia in September 2022 and 12 from South Africa in February 2023. Eleven of them have survived, including two that were transferred to Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary in April.

Since the introduction of African cheetahs, 26 cubs have been born in India, of which 17 have survived.