Kuno cheetahs offer hope for conservation
The cheetah exercise has been successful, raising hope for such active ventures in the future
September 17, 2022, is an important date in India’s conservation history. This was the day when cheetahs from Namibia were released in the Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. An eventful year has passed since then.
Over time, there has been a global decline of cheetahs in the wild. Hence, in-situ conservation of the species through reintroduction in geographically isolated protected areas across its historical range is important. The cheetah is facing severe challenges and is struggling for its survival. The global population is around 7,100 individuals, restricted to 9% of its historical range.
The cheetah’s status in Asia is alarming and the species has been extirpated from 98% of its historical range. A critically endangered population of Asiatic cheetahs survives only in Iran. The species is “protection-reliant” and hence, needs to be fostered through in-situ conservation actions, in several protected areas spread across its historical range globally. The cheetah initiative is based on an action plan, a collaborative effort of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the state of Madhya Pradesh.
Kuno landscape was chosen after great diligence. Madhya Pradesh is one of the four states (Gujarat, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are the others) earmarked for cheetah reintroduction. State-of-the-art infrastructure was put in place at Palpur comprising boma (enclosure) facilities and a 24x7 monitoring system. Several veterinarians and field biologists are stationed at the site for day-to-day monitoring. The sourcing was done from Namibia (8) and South Africa (12), and the reintroduction happened in phases. Hard release of cheetahs from the boma happened subsequently with GPS-based radio-telemetry monitoring. Each free-ranging cheetah was monitored by a dedicated team of nine persons along with a vehicle. Cheetahs in the wild were regular in making kills. The animals preyed upon were wild species (spotted deer, sambar deer, chousingha, black buck, chinkara, nilgai, hare, and peacock). The kill interval from three free-ranging cheetahs was around 5.6 days. Only a single instance of livestock depredation has been reported.
A year is too short to get insights into cheetah ethology. The life history traits of cheetahs are well documented in the South African context. Cheetahs reach sexual maturity around two years of age. The gestation, as typical of felids, is around 90 days with a litter size ranging from two to four cubs. Post-natal care is done by the mother alone. The diet ranges from small to medium-sized mammals. At times, the cheetah also preys on birds, reptiles and rodents.
Several instances of cheetah mortality have taken place since reintroduction owing to different causes, among them kidney ailment (a male cheetah of Namibian origin), dermatitis/skin infection (a female of Namibian origin and three males of South African origin), courtship conflict (a female of South African origin), and cub mortality (three born in Kuno). While lethal internecine and interspecific combats are not uncommon in translocated big cats, the mortality owing to skin infection indicates a strong probability of the biological rhythm not getting synchronised with the local climatic regime. This may be attributed to the fact that the cheetahs were sourced from habitats of the southern hemisphere. Further mortality in the context may not be ruled out for said reasons, since the circadian rhythm may require considerable time for getting tuned to locality factors.
In the wild, the life span ranges from 10 to 12 years. In nature, cheetahs face threats such as habitat loss, poaching, and conflicts with human beings. The Kuno habitat is no competing destination for the South African savannas. The larger Kuno landscape envisaged for cheetahs in the action plan is around 6,830 square kms. which includes four forest divisions, and two protected areas, subsumed within two revenue districts (Sheopur and Shivpuri). The cheetah’s hunting strategy consists largely of initial stalking and bringing down the prey through a targeted chase. Given the heterogeneous habitat of Kuno with scrubland and woodlots, the cheetah would adapt for both stalking as well as chasing its prey, while avoiding niche clashes with the leopard.
The cheetah exercise has been successful, raising hope for such active ventures in the future. While it may be too early to gather insights on cheetah ethology within a year, the experience has provided valuable insights for its field management. Broadly, this can be highlighted as below:
One, managing the source population of cheetahs in Kuno for generating a reproductive surplus, in-situ prey augmentation, field protection, state-of-the-art monitoring, use of technology, habitat management vis-à-vis the inherent biological carrying capacity of the habitat for the cheetah, and related managerial themes.
Two, putting in place preventive and control measures for addressing human-cheetah interface conflicts with rapid response teams
Three, building up protection infrastructure, monitoring capabilities, and improving the prey base in other habitats — Nauradehi and Gandhisagar wildlife sanctuaries.
Fourth, adopting a centrifugal landscape approach for cheetah management with gainful community stewardship and stakeholder engagement, based on a multi-sectoral master plan for the cheetah landscape, with due legitimacy for implementation and monitoring through an administrative mechanism, based on multi-dimensional, sustainable indicators.
The landscape approach in the context needs to focus on multi-stakeholder engagement. The concerns of the cheetah, as well as other wild animals, need to be factored into all sectors/land uses/practices of stakeholders. The said engagement needs to be mutually gainful, based on agreed actions. The cheetah reintroduction effort is ecologically significant and timely. With more than five decades of tiger experience, India is well poised in the context of managing the species as a surrogate, multi-dimensional indicator of biodiversity and human well-being through a landscape approach. The Kuno protected area, with an “exclusive” cheetah agenda, will complement the “inclusive” co-occurrence agenda of the larger landscape, while addressing the source-sink dynamics of the cheetah.
Rajesh Gopal is secretary general, GTF and chair, Cheetah Steering Committee The views expressed are personal
September 17, 2022, is an important date in India’s conservation history. This was the day when cheetahs from Namibia were released in the Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. An eventful year has passed since then.
Over time, there has been a global decline of cheetahs in the wild. Hence, in-situ conservation of the species through reintroduction in geographically isolated protected areas across its historical range is important. The cheetah is facing severe challenges and is struggling for its survival. The global population is around 7,100 individuals, restricted to 9% of its historical range.
The cheetah’s status in Asia is alarming and the species has been extirpated from 98% of its historical range. A critically endangered population of Asiatic cheetahs survives only in Iran. The species is “protection-reliant” and hence, needs to be fostered through in-situ conservation actions, in several protected areas spread across its historical range globally. The cheetah initiative is based on an action plan, a collaborative effort of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the state of Madhya Pradesh.
Kuno landscape was chosen after great diligence. Madhya Pradesh is one of the four states (Gujarat, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are the others) earmarked for cheetah reintroduction. State-of-the-art infrastructure was put in place at Palpur comprising boma (enclosure) facilities and a 24x7 monitoring system. Several veterinarians and field biologists are stationed at the site for day-to-day monitoring. The sourcing was done from Namibia (8) and South Africa (12), and the reintroduction happened in phases. Hard release of cheetahs from the boma happened subsequently with GPS-based radio-telemetry monitoring. Each free-ranging cheetah was monitored by a dedicated team of nine persons along with a vehicle. Cheetahs in the wild were regular in making kills. The animals preyed upon were wild species (spotted deer, sambar deer, chousingha, black buck, chinkara, nilgai, hare, and peacock). The kill interval from three free-ranging cheetahs was around 5.6 days. Only a single instance of livestock depredation has been reported.
A year is too short to get insights into cheetah ethology. The life history traits of cheetahs are well documented in the South African context. Cheetahs reach sexual maturity around two years of age. The gestation, as typical of felids, is around 90 days with a litter size ranging from two to four cubs. Post-natal care is done by the mother alone. The diet ranges from small to medium-sized mammals. At times, the cheetah also preys on birds, reptiles and rodents.
Several instances of cheetah mortality have taken place since reintroduction owing to different causes, among them kidney ailment (a male cheetah of Namibian origin), dermatitis/skin infection (a female of Namibian origin and three males of South African origin), courtship conflict (a female of South African origin), and cub mortality (three born in Kuno). While lethal internecine and interspecific combats are not uncommon in translocated big cats, the mortality owing to skin infection indicates a strong probability of the biological rhythm not getting synchronised with the local climatic regime. This may be attributed to the fact that the cheetahs were sourced from habitats of the southern hemisphere. Further mortality in the context may not be ruled out for said reasons, since the circadian rhythm may require considerable time for getting tuned to locality factors.
In the wild, the life span ranges from 10 to 12 years. In nature, cheetahs face threats such as habitat loss, poaching, and conflicts with human beings. The Kuno habitat is no competing destination for the South African savannas. The larger Kuno landscape envisaged for cheetahs in the action plan is around 6,830 square kms. which includes four forest divisions, and two protected areas, subsumed within two revenue districts (Sheopur and Shivpuri). The cheetah’s hunting strategy consists largely of initial stalking and bringing down the prey through a targeted chase. Given the heterogeneous habitat of Kuno with scrubland and woodlots, the cheetah would adapt for both stalking as well as chasing its prey, while avoiding niche clashes with the leopard.
The cheetah exercise has been successful, raising hope for such active ventures in the future. While it may be too early to gather insights on cheetah ethology within a year, the experience has provided valuable insights for its field management. Broadly, this can be highlighted as below:
One, managing the source population of cheetahs in Kuno for generating a reproductive surplus, in-situ prey augmentation, field protection, state-of-the-art monitoring, use of technology, habitat management vis-à-vis the inherent biological carrying capacity of the habitat for the cheetah, and related managerial themes.
Two, putting in place preventive and control measures for addressing human-cheetah interface conflicts with rapid response teams
Three, building up protection infrastructure, monitoring capabilities, and improving the prey base in other habitats — Nauradehi and Gandhisagar wildlife sanctuaries.
Fourth, adopting a centrifugal landscape approach for cheetah management with gainful community stewardship and stakeholder engagement, based on a multi-sectoral master plan for the cheetah landscape, with due legitimacy for implementation and monitoring through an administrative mechanism, based on multi-dimensional, sustainable indicators.
The landscape approach in the context needs to focus on multi-stakeholder engagement. The concerns of the cheetah, as well as other wild animals, need to be factored into all sectors/land uses/practices of stakeholders. The said engagement needs to be mutually gainful, based on agreed actions. The cheetah reintroduction effort is ecologically significant and timely. With more than five decades of tiger experience, India is well poised in the context of managing the species as a surrogate, multi-dimensional indicator of biodiversity and human well-being through a landscape approach. The Kuno protected area, with an “exclusive” cheetah agenda, will complement the “inclusive” co-occurrence agenda of the larger landscape, while addressing the source-sink dynamics of the cheetah.
Rajesh Gopal is secretary general, GTF and chair, Cheetah Steering Committee The views expressed are personal