Death of Cheetah in India: The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) today (July 16) said it is investigating the cause of the recent cheetah deaths and is consulting on a regular basis with international cheetah experts, veterinarians from South Africa and Namibia. Is.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority said that the existing monitoring protocols, protection status, managerial inputs, veterinary facilities, training and capacity building aspects are being reviewed by independent national experts.
“Out of 20 translocated adult cheetahs, five deaths of adult cheetahs have been reported from Kuno National Park and according to preliminary analysis all the deaths are due to natural causes. There are media reports attributing the deaths of cheetahs to radio collars etc. NTCA said, such reports are not based on any scientific evidence but on speculations and rumours.
The NTCA further stated that steps such as establishment of Cheetah Research Center with facilities for rescue, rehabilitation, capacity building and interpretation; Bringing additional forest area under the administrative control of Kuno National Park for landscape-level management; providing additional frontline staff; Establishment of Cheetah Security Force; And Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh is envisaged to be a second home for cheetahs.
“The Government of India has deployed a dedicated NTCA team of officers to work in close coordination with the field officers. This team will take real-time field data collected by field monitoring teams to take decisions on various management aspects including health and related Engaged to analyze the data. Intervention required for better management,” NTCA said.
NTCA on Cheetah Project:
NTCA said Project Cheetah is yet to complete one year and it is too early to conclude the outcome in terms of success or failure as the introduction of Cheetah is a long term project.
“Over the past 10 months, all stakeholders involved in this cheetah reintroduction project have gained valuable insights into cheetah management, monitoring and protection, and we are optimistic that the project will be successful in the long run and there is no reason to speculate on its timing ,” said the official release.
Under Project Cheetah, a total of 20 radio-collared cheetahs were imported from Namibia and South Africa to Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh in the first-ever transcontinental wild-to-wild translocation.
After the mandatory quarantine period, all cheetahs were transferred to larger adaptation enclosures. Currently, 11 cheetahs are free, and 5 animals including a cub born on Indian soil are in quarantine enclosures. Every cheetah that is free is being monitored round the clock by a dedicated surveillance team.
Project Cheetah is being implemented by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), in collaboration with Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, Wildlife Institute of India (WII). and cheetah experts from Namibia and South Africa.
The project is being implemented as per the ‘Action Plan for Introduction in India’ and a steering committee of eminent experts and officials involved in successful tiger reintroduction for the first time in Sariska and Panna Tiger Reserves has also been constituted to oversee the project . ,
(with ANI inputs)
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