World News | 3 years after first suggestion of cheetah migration from South Africa to India

Johannesburg, Feb. 16 (PTI) 12 cheetahs due to arrive in India on Saturday were relocated from South Africa, three years after the Indian government first floated the idea.

India’s initial launch of the program was delayed due to an understanding between the two countries, and the animals continued to be quarantined in a sanctuary in Limpopo province.

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In January 2020, the Supreme Court allowed the central government to introduce southern African cheetahs into suitable habitat in India as part of a trial to see if they would adapt, prepared by Vincent van der Merwe, cheetah population coordinator According to a report in South Africa.

The ruling came in response to an application filed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) seeking permission to import Southern African cheetahs from Namibia. Last September, eight cheetahs from neighboring Namibia were sent to India.

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A month after the ruling, NTCA and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) contacted Dr Leith Meyer and Dr Adrian Tordiffe of the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine about the possible reintroduction of South African cheetahs to India.

Tordiffe put WII in touch with Van der Merwe in July 2022 and has since lodged a request with the South African Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Environment to provide 12 mixed-population cheetahs to India as part of its first reintroduction attempt.

While cheetahs are a historically present species in India, they have become extinct due to landscape modification caused by hunting during the colonial era and agricultural practices as populations multiplied, the report said.

“The reintroduction of cheetahs to protected areas within India’s historic range will restore natural evolutionary pressures that have not existed in these systems for at least five decades,” it said.

“The reintroduction of cheetahs in India will represent a step forward in bringing a historically occurring species back to its network of protected areas. While this may result in only localized ecological and evolutionary benefits, the restoration of India’s natural history will bring economic and cultural benefits,” the report said, citing how in Southern Africa, the reintroduction of wildlife has been accompanied by increased tourism, employment opportunities, increased income, higher wages, and improved reserve staff morale and sense of purpose .

Successful relocation of cheetahs to reintroduction sites in India would require a regular supply of about 10 unrelated individuals per year for a decade to ensure short-term genetic and demographic integrity, the scientists said.

“The South African cheetah population is well suited to provide a founder population for the proposed reintroduction to India. The conservation strategy employed in South Africa builds on 55 years of cheetah reintroduction and management of small protected areas,” they said.

As a preparatory step, all risks have been assessed in detail, from the potential for disease transmission to detailed shipping requirements in South Africa and India.

All cheetahs are vaccinated against relevant diseases and treated for internal and external parasites; and issued health certificates and vaccination certificates.

The special transport case, based on 50 years of experience in cheetah transport, is designed to minimize stress and allow veterinarians to intervene in emergencies.

Cheetahs will be accompanied and supervised by participating veterinarians at all times.

The cheetahs will take off from OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on Friday night and are expected to arrive at Gwalior air base in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday morning before being transported to Sheopur shortly thereafter.

The Indian Air Force provided heavy helicopters for this purpose, with the doors closed.

The report says the South African cheetah population is growing at an average rate of 8 cheetahs per year and can replenish as many as 10 cheetahs per year.

“The proposed reintroduction of cheetahs to India is a high-profile conservation project. It entails the first transcontinental migration and reintroduction of a large carnivore,” the report concluded.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the body of content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)