Govt cuts tenure of scientist who brought cheetahs

Jhala had prepared the technical ground for the ambitious cheetah project under successive governments since 2009. He was a member of the cheetah task force set up in 2010 under conservationist M K Ranjitsinh. It is widely believed that his service at the WII was extended to keep him at the helm of the cheetah project.

But in September 2022, as reported by The Indian Express, Jhala was dropped from the government’s new cheetah task force, days after escorting the first batch of cheetahs from Namibia to India.

Asked about Jhala’s ouster, Ranjitsinh said: “I’m very surprised and concerned. In the interest of the Cheetah Project, the government should clarify why this action was necessary.”

“Dr Jhala’s tenure was extended for the cheetah work. When he was no longer part of the project, it was only logical that he would be relieved,” a senior ministry official said.

When contacted, Jhala declined to comment.

Jhala’s colleagues at WII said they were not surprised. “The fact that Dr Jhala rubbed the establishment the wrong way became very clear when he was dropped (from the task force) last year. He refused to compromise on science, and the situation only went downhill,” one colleague said.

With Ranjitsinh, Jhala had prepared the first report on potential cheetah release sites after then Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh entrusted them with the survey in 2009. In January 2022, he was the lead author when India finalised the Cheetah Action Plan. Jhala had also been leading technical negotiations with wildlife biologists in Namibia and South Africa.

Ramesh on Thursday tweeted, “The man who was key to cheetah reintroduction has been shown the door today. Dr YV Jhala was given a 2 yr extension at the Wildlife Institute of India last year but that’s now been curtailed. He’s been a strong advocate of a second home for Gir Lion outside Gujarat and has paid the price.”

The cheetah’s new home, Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, was originally developed as the second home for the Asiatic lion, a species now confined to Gujarat.

Shot down by the Supreme Court in 2013, the cheetah project was revived by the National Tiger Conservation Authority in 2017. In 2020, the SC allowed it “on an experimental basis” under a three-member committee headed by Ranjitsinh, since “it is not desirable that (the project)… be left to the sole discretion of NTCA”.