Analysis by Zahra Hirji | Discovery News | Fri Jul 30, 2010 09:24 AM
India has committed to setting aside three grassland sanctuaries
to bring cheetahs back to the subcontinent.
This is the country’s
most recent move in showing it is serious about protecting its native big cat
species. Earlier this year, India announced it would work with the World Wildlife Fund to protect dwindling tiger
populations.
Cheetahs vanished from
India in 1967 after decades of intense hunting pressure. Now the country is
seeking to put right the wrongs of the past.
“The return of the
cheetah would make India the only country in the world to host six of the
world’s eight large cats and the only one to have all the large cats of Asia,” M.K. Ranjitinsh of Wildlife Trust of
India said in an interview with
the Press Trust of India news agency.
The country’s Ministry
of Environment and Forests arranged to import 18 cheetahs from either Africa or
the Middle East, the only two regions that currently support wild cheetah
populations.
Officials will supply
six cheetahs each to the two wildlife sanctuaries Kuno-Palpur and Nauradehi in
central India, as well as Shahgarh Landscape in the north-western India.
Cheetahs, like tigers,
are critically endangered. There are only around 10,000 cheetahs left in the
wild. These yellow spotted cats are the world’s fastest animal -- they can run at speeds
up to 70 miles per hour over short distances.
But they are solitary
creatures and highly territorial, which is why Indian authorities are initially
only inserting six cheetahs into each park, even though two of the reserves
could support up to 80 cats.
The Indian government
is spending 30 million rupees (approximately $600,000) on restoring the sites
before the animals arrive. Part of the restoration process involves relocating 23 permanent human settlements, in addition
to a collection of nomadic communities, out of the nature reserves.
Forcing a handful of
communities to relocate, according to the government, is a small price to pay
in return for reinstating the cheetahs and protecting vast regions of India’s
grasslands.
Moreover, India’s
government hopes that the nature reserve upgrades will bolster tourism.