Doubts again over cheetah project

The death of two cheetahs within one month at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh where they had been relocated from Namibia and South Africa last year has raised questions about the viability of the project. One cheetah died last month and the death was attributed to kidney ailments. The death of the second one, which was considered to be healthy, is being investigated. One cheetah in the wild has strayed a number of times outside the sanctuary into villages. That can pose a risk to its health and life, and officials have said they are trying to control its wanderlust. There are 18 cheetahs that remain in the groups brought from Africa. But there is a total of 22 as four cubs were born after the relocation to India. It was after a lot of discussions over years that the relocation project was finalised. But there was no consensus on the need for and desirability of the project as some wildlife experts and ecologists had opposed the plan for various reasons.

Also Read | Small enclosures for South African cheetahs trigger big concerns

The cheetahs have been in captivity for a long time and it is said that they may develop stress because of it. The stress can reduce their immunity to diseases, especially in an environment they are not familiar with. One disease caused by a long period of captivity is kidney disease. Some experts have also said that they are not given the ideal diet in the enclosures. It is pointed out that while their natural diet includes chital, nilgai and sambar deer, they are given buffalo and goat meat in the enclosures. But the cheetahs need to be kept in enclosures for some time so that they acclimatise to the Indian conditions. There are also complaints that the Kuno park lacks the manpower to take care of the cheetahs.

One major complaint is that the Kuno park is not spacious enough for the cheetahs which need a large territory as their habitat. The Madhya Pradesh government is reported to have written to the Centre seeking preparation of additional sites for the cheetahs. The Rajasthan government had offered to host some animals in the Mukundra tiger reserve which had figured in the original cheetah relocation plan. It is a smaller reserve but is considered to be better equipped. But political considerations are said to have stalled the plan, as Rajasthan is a Congress-ruled state. It will be unfortunate if politics interferes in wildlife welfare plans. But the selection of Kuna for the cheetahs was itself considered to be a political move meant to scuttle the plan to shift lions from the crowded Gir forest to that park.