Process time-taking, but Project Cheetah a success: Bhupender Yadav

Yadav’s comments come over a week after the death of Pawan, the male cheetah which was found dead on August 27 near a stream in Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh. The cheetah, which was translocated from Namibia, reportedly died due to drowning. However, the Madhya Pradesh government is yet to rule out unnatural causes such as poisoning.
Yadav was speaking at an exhibition on wildlife photography in the capital.

Recounting the early jitters of field staff, Yadav said that during the project’s early stages, forest ranges used to feel apprehensive when the freshly translocated cheetahs moved in their range. “I have seen that forest rangers used to be tense when cheetahs moved in their range. But I reassured them that they should work without worrying as the process in such projects is time taking.”

Project Cheetah began with the reintroduction of eight cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa in Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh. As of now 25 cheetahs — 13 adults and 12 cubs — survive.

The government is currently developing Gandhi Sagar wildlife sanctuary as the second home for the African cheetahs. Prey base of ungulates is being augmented in the protected area and the field staff also has its task cut out on the issue of relocating leopards, who are a competing predator of the cheetahs in the sanctuary.

Meanwhile, the National Tiger Conservation Authority and Project Cheetah steering committee are also deliberating on finalising the source population for importing the next batch of cheetahs for the project. One of the key objectives of the project is to introduce eight to 14 cheetahs annually for five years, subject to availability.