Is reintroduction of Asiatic Cheetah not possible in India?

In India, according to experts, the reintroduction of the Asiatic cheetahs is said to be impossible which is why South African cheetahs were chosen for the ambitious ‘Project Cheetah’. 

According to Vincent van der Merwe, a veterinarian who is closely involved with ‘Project Cheetah’, there are only about 30 to 40 Asiatic cheetahs left in the Asia region, and all of them are in Iran. 

“So, it would be impossible for India to take cheetahs from Asia for this reintroduction because there are a few left. Maybe one day we might be able to save the Asiatic cheetah. It’s a very different-looking cheetah, but this is a species that is essentially at the end of the run,” Vincent van der Merwe said. 

According to him, Asiatic cheetah had once been rendered extinct due to the agricultural activities’ encroachment on their territories. Regarding why the best South African cheetahs were chosen, he said that India has a lot of predators that the local cheetah would never have come across before. 

“So, we have selected our very best cheetah for relocation. These are animals that know what to do when they encounter lions. These animals are out there to get them and they are vigilant to the presence of these predators. They immediately know that they must move in the opposite direction. The cheetah that we are sending to India will know what to do,” he said.

Being the fastest land animal on earth, no predator has a chance of catching a running cheetah.

“We want wild and functional cheetahs introduced into India. They must know what to do when they see lions or leopards because these are the predators that they are going to encounter in India, alongside sloth bears, wolves for the first time, and Indian wild dogs,” he added. 

Adrian Tordiffe, Associate Professor and Veterinary Wildlife Specialist at the University of Pretoria, who has also been deeply involved in the project, explained the two types of environment, in India and South Africa. 

“There so many lessons that we can learn from them in terms of how they deal with human-wildlife conflict and the way they manage their open system parks, which we are very scared of doing (in South Africa),” he said.

He referred to the fact that India’s reserves are mainly open, where animals can roam free, often with human settlements adjacent to them. South Africa’s reserves are all fenced in.

Dr Amit Mallick, Inspector-General of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, shared his optimism about the South African cheetah adapting to the Indian condition.

(With inputs from PTI)