Panel gives nod to shift cheetahs from Kuno park to Gandhi Sagar

The decision, taken at a meeting last week, comes even as concerns linger over availability of adequate prey and the presence of leopards, the competing co-predators.

“It was discussed and agreed that a few cheetahs could be moved to Gandhi Sagar soon,” said a source aware of the developments.

Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary has been earmarked as an important link for long-term conservation of cheetahs, with the aim to establish a metapopulation of 60-70 cheetahs across the Kuno-Gandhi Sagar landscape, spread across Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

For over a year now, the Madhya Pradesh forest department has been preparing Gandhi Sagar for the introduction of cheetahs. Although it was to be a home for the next batch of African cheetahs, talks between India and African nations have not materialised yet.

In the first phase, the plan is to release four-five cheetahs into a fenced area in the western part of the sanctuary. An area of 64 square kilometres has been cordoned off and leopards have been moved out to prevent conflict between the two wild cats.

It is yet to be finalised if the cheetahs to be moved to Gandhi Sagar would be those which were released into the wild at Kuno, or the others which are still inside large enclosures. Of the 26 cheetahs at Kuno, 17 are in the wild and nine remain in enclosures.

A deficit of prey at Gandhi Sagar has been a concern and the steering committee discussed the ongoing efforts to augment prey base through introduction of chital from other forests of Madhya Pradesh. For in-situ (on-site) breeding of prey, there are herbivore enclosures at Gandhi Sagar.

“Prey augmentation has been an ongoing process at Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary. We have chinkara, chousingha, nilgai and chital among the prey base,” said Subharanjan Sen, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), Madhya Pradesh Forest Department.

The steering committee is also learnt to have discussed the recent controversy triggered by a video clip of a driver hired by the forest department offering water to a cheetah and her cubs. Expressing displeasure, the members advised the state forest department to ensure compliance of standard operating procedures regarding interactions with the cheetahs.

The committee noted that the incident reflected lack of training and asked the state authorities to step up sensitisation efforts and involvement of ‘cheetah mitras’, the grassroots wildlife volunteers. The committee also asked the authorities to ensure adequate water supply during peak summer.

The Cheetah Project Steering Committee was constituted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority in May 2023 to review and monitor the project, and also act as an advisory body.

Project Cheetah kickstarted in 2022 with the translocation of eight cheetahs from Namibia and 12 from South Africa to Kuno National Park. The project has faced setbacks with the deaths of eight of these cheetahs and five cubs born in Kuno.