The High Commissioner of the southern African nation to India, Gabriel Sinimbo, said on Saturday that the deaths of several cheetahs brought under Project Cheetah to Madhya Pradesh are happening due to the introduction of animals to a new environment.
The High Commissioner further stressed that the felines will be able to fully adapt to India’s environment. Nine of the 20 cheetahs brought from the two countries, namely Namibia and South Africa, have passed away altogether since March of this year.
Emphasising that it’s a part of any project of this nature, Sinimbo told news agency PTI that, “When you are introducing animals to a new environment, there could be some challenges like fatalities.”
In the course of Project Cheetah, a total of 20 radio-collared cheetahs were brought from Namibia and South Africa to the Kuno National Park in the Sheopur region of Madhya Pradesh. Later on, the Namibian cheetah “Jwala” gave birth to four cubs. Nine, including three cubs, have perished out of these 24 cats.
“It’s a novel project advocated by the honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reintroduce the large cat species, and Namibia is quite pleased with this initiative, given our relationship of supporting each other,” Sinimbo said.
On August 2, news of the ninth cheetah fatality at the KNP became public.
According to the environment ministry, on July 16, media reports linking the deaths of 20 adult cheetahs imported from Namibia and South Africa to things like radio collars were based on “speculation and hearsay without scientific evidence” and that five of the 20 adult cheetahs died of natural causes.
Six cheetahs at the KNP, however, had their radio collars taken off for a “health examination” by KNP vets and specialists from Namibia and South Africa. In Kuno, there are fourteen cheetahs housed in enclosures: seven males, six females, and a female cub. Their health is periodically checked by a team made up of Kuno wildlife vets and a Namibian specialist, reported news agency PTI.
The extermination of cheetahs took place around 70 years ago in India. Since then, subsequent governments have been trying to re-introduce them as part of India’s rich biodiversity. Seventy years after their extinction, the felines were reintroduced to KNP last year in order to create the first free-ranging colony.
Times now digital/ Business Express