Eight cheetahs came to Madhya Pradesh last year after migrating from Africa. The five female and three male cheetahs were...
Digital Desk: The Indian government intends to spend crores of rupees once more on the import of cheetahs from South Africa. SP Yadav, Project Cheetah's director, announced on Saturday that cheetahs will be transported from South Africa and introduced into Madhya Pradesh's Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary.
However, Yadav did not provide a particular date for when the Cheetahs will be introduced to India, only that the huge cats may arrive by the end of this year.
The Cheetah Action Plan states that Kuno can support up to 20 cheetahs at a time. 'There are currently 15 cheetahs in the country, including a cub, and the next group will arrive in a different location. In Madhya Pradesh, we are setting up two such locations: Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary and Nauradehi. The Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh would be ready to receive the spotted felines by the end of the year," according to Yadav, who stated that the next batch of cheetahs will be imported from South Africa and introduced there.
He stated that this time, they have established a plant to import cheetahs that do not have thicker winter coats, which is a key cause of severe illnesses in some cheetahs and the death of three of them that were transported from Africa to India.
Yadav added that the animals scratched their necks on tree trunks or the ground because the winter coat, along with high humidity and temperatures, produced irritation. This resulted in bruising and exposed flesh, where flies lay their eggs, causing maggot infestations and, eventually, bacterial infections and septicemia, which resulted in death.
Eight cheetahs arrived in Madhya Pradesh last year after migrating from Africa. The five female and three male cheetahs were introduced into Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park.
This project's entire cost is projected to be around 91 crore. IOC, India's largest oil company, would contribute 50.22 crore to this initiative as part of its CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility).
The carnivores were entirely wiped from the country and were declared extinct in 1952, due to overhunting and habitat degradation were reintroduced as part of the 'Action Plan for Reintroduction of Cheetah in India' established by the Wildlife Institute of India.
On Sunday, Project Cheetah will celebrate its first anniversary. SP Yadav, Additional Director General of Forests at the Environment Ministry, told PTI that the project's focus in its second year will be on reiterating these animals.
The site preparation at the Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary is in full flow at the moment, and I expect it to be finished by the end of November or December. We'll go to the site after we have the completion report and inspect it from all angles of preparation. And we'll decide on bringing cheetahs after December, Yadav added.
Yadav noted that one of the most difficult issues in the first year of maintaining cheetahs in India was the unexpected growth of winter coats by certain cheetahs during the Indian summer and monsoon, in preparation for the African winter (June to September). Even African experts were surprised, according to a top forest official.
Some cheetahs did not acquire winter coats and hence stayed infection-free. They are more adapted to Indian conditions. As a result, we will be highly selective in our future cheetah import. We will favour animals who either do not acquire winter coats or develop thinner ones, as stated by Project Cheetah's director.
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