6 ‘stressed’ leopards enter cheetahs’ enclosure in MP Kuno Park

India

pti-PTI

Bhopal, Aug 08:
Six
leopards
had
entered
the
acclimatisation
“soft
release
enclosure” in
Madhya
Pradesh’s
Kuno-Palpur
National
Park
(KNP)
meant
for
cheetahs
being
brought
in
as
part
of
an
ambitious
reintroduction
project,
forest
officials
said.

Two
of
the
leopards
were
later
evacuated
while
efforts
were
on
to
remove
the
rest
four,
they
said.

Talking
to
PTI
on
Sunday,
MP
Principal
Chief
Conservator
of
Forests
(Wildlife)
J
S
Chauhan
admitted
that
cheetahs
may
be
under
some
kind
of
stress
after
travelling
a
huge
distance
(from
Namibia
and
South
Africa)
to
arrive
here,
but
added
that
leopards
and
cheetahs
co-exist
in
that
continent
as
well.
Wildlife
experts
earlier
flagged
these
concerns
and
also
said
the
cheetahs
may
be
fussy
in
the
beginning
due
to
the
change
in
environment,
all
of
which
may
make
them
vulnerable
when
compared
to
leopards
that
knows
the
wild
better
here.

The
KNP,
spread
over
750
square
kilometres
in
MP’s
Chambal
region,
has
a
large
number
of
leopards,
according
to
Chauhan.

Queried
on
speculation
that
the
cheetahs
may
reach
the
country
by
August
13,
Chauhan
said
his
department
has
not
been
informed
verbally
or
in
writing
about
any
date
of
arrival.

Even
as
preparations
are
underway
to
reintroduce
cheetahs
in
KNP,
National
Biodiversity
Authority
chief
Vinod
B
Mathur
dismissed
concerns
that
this
may
cause
the
same
problems
faced
by
tigers
in
the
country
after
breeding.
Though
the
pilot
project
slated
to
be
carried
out
in
a
limited
area
of
the
KNP
has
a
substantial
scientific
basis,
there
is
no
need
to
immediately
make
this
transcontinental
experiment
a
matter
of
joy
or
sorrow,
he
told
PTI.

Cheetahs
went
extinct
in
India
in
1952
and
the
reintroduction
project
is
now
in
its
final
stages
with
a
few
big
cats
set
to
be
housed
in
KNP
after
being
brought
in
from
the
southern
parts
of
Africa.

“We
are
going
to
release
the
cheetahs
in
the
‘soft
release
enclosure’,
which
is
spread
over
an
area
of
5
square
kilometres.
However,
six
leopards
had
entered
this
area.
While
two
have
been
evacuated
from
the
enclosure,
efforts
are
on
to
remove
the
remaining
four,”
Chauhan
said.
Cages
have
been
kept
to
catch
these
leopards,
which
are
in
large
numbers
in
KNP,
he
said.

“The
cheetahs
will
be
kept
in
the
enclosure
for
two
to
three
months
before
being
released
into
the
wild.
We
are
clearing
the
enclosure
of
leopards
as
we
want
to
give
the
cheetahs
a
conflict-free
zone,”
Chauhan
said.

Madhya
Pradesh
is
home
to
3,421
leopards,
the
highest
in
the
country,
followed
by
1,783
in
Karnataka,
as
per
the
Union
Environment
Ministry’s
‘Status
of
Leopards
in
India
2018’ report.
While
India
has
signed
a
Memorandum
of
Understanding
with
the
Namibian
government
for
the
import
of
cheetahs,
it
is
also
in
the
process
of
inking
agreements
with
private
game
reserves
in
South
Africa
and
the
government
there
for
more
big
cats,
another
official
said.

Most
of
the
cheetahs
have
been
donated,
while
India
also
plans
to
buy
some
from
private
game
reserves
at
USD
3,000-4,000
per
animal,
he
added.
Meanwhile,
Wildlife
Institute
of
India
(WII)
Dean
and
senior
professor
Yadvendradev
Vikramsinh
Jhala
reached
Johannesburg
in
South
Africa
on
Saturday
in
connection
with
the
cheetah
reintroduction
project,
officials
said.

Twelve
cheetahs,
including
four
to
five
females,
have
been
vaccinated
and
quarantined
for
a
month
as
part
of
preparations
to
airlift
them
to
India,
they
added.
“Extensive
hunting
of
cheetahs
and
habitat
loss
led
to
their
extinction.
The
last
three
cheetahs
were
killed
by
the
Raja
of
Korea
in
the
forests
that
are
now
part
of
Ghasidas
National
Park,”
Ajay
Dubey,
founder
secretary
of
Prayatna
and
wildlife
expert
said.

“I
don’t
see
any
issue
with
the
reintroduction
of
the
cheetah
in
KNP
as
far
as
other
predators
are
concerned.
Cheetahs
are
coexisting
with
leopards,
hyenas
etc
in
Africa,”
he
added.

The
last
cheetah
died
in
the
country
in
1947
in
the
Korea
district
in
present-day
Chhattisgarh,
which
was
part
of
MP
then,
and
the
species
was
declared
extinct
in
1952.
The
‘African
Cheetah
Introduction
Project
in
India’
was
conceived
in
2009
and
a
plan
to
introduce
the
big
cat
by
November
last
year
in
KNP
suffered
a
setback
due
to
the
COVID-19
pandemic,
officials
said.

“The
KNP
has
a
good
prey
base
for
cheetahs.
Experts
from
the
WII
also
seconded
the
area.
MP
was
home
to
cheetahs
earlier.
Moreover,
it
has
a
good
translocation
record
as
tigers
were
successfully
reintroduced
in
Panna
in
2009,”
an
official
asserted.