• The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has set up an 11-member high-level steering committee to review and monitor the progress of the cheetah reintroduction programme and provide suggestions on the opening of the cheetah habitat for eco-tourism.

• The decision to form the Cheetah Project Steering Committee, which will be headed by Rajesh Gopal, Secretary General of Global Tiger Forum, came shortly after news emerged about the death of two more cheetah cubs at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.

• Three adult cheetahs and three out of the four cubs born to a female Namibian cheetah, Sisaya, have died in around two months at the Kuno National Park, prompting questions from several experts on the suitability of the habitat and wildlife management.

• The high-level committee has been set up to review, progress, monitor and give advice on the cheetah introduction to the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department and the NTCA.

• It will provide suggestions on the opening of the cheetah habitat for eco-tourism and on regulations in this regard.

• The Steering Committee shall be in-force for a period of two years and will hold at least one meeting every month.

Cheetah Reintroduction Programme

• The ‘African Cheetah Introduction Project in India’ was first conceived in 2009. In 2013, the Supreme Court turned down the plea for relocation of African cheetah at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.

• In January 2020, the Supreme Court allowed the government to introduce the African cheetah to a suitable habitat on an experimental basis to see whether it can adapt to Indian conditions.

• In September 2022, eight cheetahs airlifted from Namibia — five females and three males — were released in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park (KNP), putting the sanctuary in Sheopur district firmly on the world map.

• It is said to be the world’s first inter-continental large wild carnivore translocation project.

• In a second such translocation, 12 cheetahs were flown in from South Africa and released into Kuno on February 18. 

Significance of cheetah reintroduction

• Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), the world’s fastest land animal, got completely wiped out from India due to their use for coursing, sport hunting, overhunting and habitat loss. 

• Cheetahs don’t need much water and can survive in dry forests, grasslands, open plains and desert regions. 

• The last cheetah died in the country in 1947 in Korea district in present-day Chhattisgarh and the animal was officially declared extinct in 1952.

• Cheetah is considered vulnerable under the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) red list of threatened species, with a declining population of less than 7,000 found primarily in African savannas.

• The main goal of cheetah reintroduction project in India is to establish viable cheetah metapopulation in India that allows the cheetah to perform its functional role as a top predator and provides space for the expansion of the cheetah within its historical range thereby contributing to its global conservation efforts.

Why was Kuno National Park selected?

• Ten sites were surveyed between 2010 and 2012.

• Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh was considered ready for receiving cheetahs with the least management interventions since a lot of investments had been done in this protected area for reintroducing Asiatic lions, which are also an endangered species.

• Kuno National Park was established in Madhya Pradesh in 1981. It was also known as Kuno-Palpur and Palpur-Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary.

• Spread over 748 sq km, KNP has an adequate prey base. It is devoid of human settlements, forms a part of the Sheopur-Shivpuri deciduous open forest landscape. The carrying capacity can be further enhanced by including the remaining part of the Kuno Wildlife Division (1,280 sq km) through prey restoration.

• KNP is situated on the northern side of Vidhyachal mountains and draws its name from a tributary of the Chambal river, Kuno.

• The action plan for cheetah translocations in KNP has been developed in compliance with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines and considering site assessment and prey density, current cheetah carrying capacity of the national park, among other criteria.

• Financial and administrative support to the cheetah reintroduction programme in India would be provided by the ministry through the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store