Spot that cat
- POSTED ON: 3 Oct, 2022
- TOTAL VIEWS: 155 Views
- POSTED BY: Nimi Kurian| Young World| Article: Archana Subramanian
- ARTICLE POINTS: 150 Points
The cheetah, the fastest land animal, is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. Its coat is typically tawny to creamy white or pale buff with evenly spaced, solid black spots. There are two sub-species of cheetahs recognised today: the Asiatic (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) and the African (Acinonyx jubatus jubatus). In 1952, the Indian government officially declared the Cheetah extinct in the country.
Multiple efforts
The idea of bringing the cheetah to India has long been on the cards. One of the reasons was that this would revive grassland forests and their biome and habitat. In 1955, the State Wildlife Board of Andhra Pradesh suggested the import of cheetahs on an experimental basis in two districts but in vain. In 2009, attempts were revived but the order was stayed by the Supreme Court. In 2020, the Supreme Court announced that African cheetahs could be introduced in a “carefully chosen location” on an experimental basis. On September 18, 2022, eight cheetahs (five females and three males) were released into Madya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park (KNP), which was chosen because it had a good prey base — chinkara, spotted deer, and blackbuck. Facilities for the big cats have been developed, the staff trained, and larger predators like leopards moved away. After a month in the quarantine enclosure, the eight cheetahs will be shifted to an acclimatisation enclosure within the National Park where they will stay for four months before being released into the wild. The project’s success depends on the survival of the animals in an environment that may seem similar to their African one but is not.
Why the reintroduction?
The major purpose of the project to be brought back after 70 years of its extinction is to develop healthy populations in India as the cheetah plays the role as a top predator. A grassland species; whose conservation also helps in preserving other grassland species in the predator food chain.
What’s in for us?
As and when the Project develops, it will help conserve biodiversity and enhance the ecosystem services like water security, carbon sequestration and soil moisture conservation,thus helping all of us at large.