A six-member Kenyan government delegation that visited India last week to appraise India’s work on Project Cheetah presented a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) outlining collaborations in the field of wildlife conservation, capacity building and knowledge sharing, senior officials from NTCA said. Among the collaborative steps mentioned in the MoU, one was on seeking India’s help in obtaining equipment for forest rangers in Kenya, to improve their field patrolling and wildlife conservation, sources said. Other issues pertained to improving ties between the two countries on broad wildlife conservation issues. When asked about discussions on sourcing of cheetahs from Kenya for phase-II of Project Cheetah, NTCA Member Secretary Gobind Sagar Bharadwaj said, “There was no concrete outcome on the issue of cheetah sourcing during this meeting. The steering committee on Project Cheetah will take the final call on the issue after deliberations and due diligence is carried out.” India has been exploring the option of sourcing cheetahs from Kenya for phase-II of Project Cheetah as it is believed that they would adapt better to India’s tropical climate since a part of Kenya is located in the northern hemisphere. Sources said that the process of formalising the MoU will be done through the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). “The MoU would be forwarded to our high commission in Nairobi and we would share our inputs through the MEA. If there is any agreement on sourcing cheetahs from Kenya that, too, would be made part of the broad and over-arching MoU,” a source aware of developments said. The Kenyan delegation was on a three-day visit which involved a meeting in Delhi with officials of the NTCA, followed by a visit to Kuno National Park and Gandhi Sagar wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. The delegation’s visit happened in the backdrop of India’s desire to source cheetahs from Kenya, which it had expressed during a visit of Kenyan President William Ruto in December last year. The Environment ministry had also written to Kenya’s government last year, expressing a desire to visit Kenya to study and adopt their wildlife management practices. However, the Kenyan government requested to visit India first. During their visit to Kuno national park, the field staff made a presentation on all the efforts made as part of the reintroduction programme. “They made queries on our field management practices and we discussed the efforts we have taken over the last 1.5 years since the cheetahs were reintroduced in India,” said Uttam Kumar Sharma, field director, Kuno National Park. At Gandhi Sagar sanctuary, the visiting delegation was provided details on the fencing and prey augmentation preparations undertaken to ready the sanctuary for reintroduction of cheetahs later this year. Following their visit to Madhya Pradesh, the Kenyan delegation is also likely to share a report on their appraisal of the cheetah reintroduction project, sources added. Currently, there are 27 cheetahs in Kuno – 13 adults and 14 cubs. Of the 27, only two are in the wild and the rest are in soft-release bomas or enclosures. As part of Project Cheetah, the Indian government plans to introduce eight to 14 cheetahs each year, subject to availability.
