Leopard
– Photo: Social Media
Expansion
After experts from South Africa and Namibia recommended fencing of cheetah habitats in India, the head of the Centre’s high-level committee set up to oversee the cheetah reintroduction project said on Thursday that India, like South Africa and Namibia, would like to protect cheetahs. does not want a walled housing for it, as it is against the basic principles of wildlife conservation.
Indian experts say the fence can disrupt natural animal movements and hinder genetic exchange between populations. Rajesh Gopal, chairman of the 11-member Cheetah Steering Committee, said that it is absolutely wrong to think of fencing the residences. This is against the basic principles of wildlife conservation. Our understanding is that regional networks of protected areas should be merged into national networks of protected areas, so that there is porosity for wildlife gene flow. He said that we have our own socio-cultural issues. We have been handling tigers for the last 50 years and we know what the human-wildlife interface is. We can handle cheetahs too.
Never in history has there been a successful reintroduction of cheetahs into an unfenced reserve
South African wildlife expert Vincent van der Merwe, who is involved with the project, says that never in history has there been a successful re-introduction of cheetahs into a reserve without a fence. It was tried 15 times in Africa and failed every time. He said that we are not at all saying that India should fence all its tiger reserves. All we are saying is just circle two or three and create source reserve to top up the sink reserve. Resource reserves are habitats that provide favorable conditions for the reproduction of a particular species. These areas have abundant resources and favorable environmental conditions. They can support self-sustaining populations. Sink reserves, on the other hand, are habitats that have limited resources or environmental conditions that are less favorable for the survival or reproduction of a species.
Relocating to Sanctuaries Suggested
Many experts and even the Supreme Court have expressed concern over the lack of space in the Kuno National Park. Also, it has been suggested to shift the cheetahs to other sanctuaries. At the same time, officials said that the Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh is being prepared as an alternative habitat for cheetahs. It will be ready by November.
team will go on study tour
Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav said on Monday that officers and staff involved in the conservation and management of cheetahs would be sent on a study tour to Namibia and South Africa under the project. He said the central government will provide all necessary assistance including security, protection, promotion and financial resources for the Cheetah Protection Force.
According to Gopal, chairman of the Cheetah Steering Committee, by the third week of June, seven more cheetahs, including two females, would be released into the wild. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had released eight cheetahs from Namibia to Kuno in Madhya Pradesh on September 17 last year. After this, in the second transfer, 12 cheetahs were brought from South Africa and released in Kuno on 18 February. Three cheetahs died in March and April. Of the 17 remaining adult cheetahs, seven have already been released into the wild. After this, a female cheetah gave birth to four cubs in March. Three of them died due to heat exposure and dehydration.
To address the issue of cheetah-people interface, Gopal said a GIS-based landscape fragmentation analysis would be done to help state officials identify vulnerable areas. He said that we cannot say that cheetahs will spend their whole life in kuno. They will also enter human settlements and there will be some issues. We have to be ready for this.