NEW DELHI: Indian and Namibia authorized a deal Wed (Jul 20) to bring cheetahs into the Southern Asian country, using the first batch associated with eight wild cats set to arrive the following month, officials said.
India continues to be working to relocate the animals since 2020, when the Supreme Court announced that African cheetahs could be introduced within a “carefully chosen location” on an experimental basis.
India in the past had Asiatic cheetahs, but the species was officially declared extinct within the country simply by 1952.
The deal inked Wednesday will see Namibia’s African cheetahs flown in next month to a wildlife sanctuary in the central state of Madhya Pradesh for captive mating – a shift expected to coincide with India’s 75th Self-reliance Day celebrations.
“Completing 75 glorious years of Independence along with restoring the quickest terrestrial flagship types, the cheetah, within India, will rekindle the ecological dynamics of the landscape, ” India’s environment minister Bhupender Yadav tweeted.
“Cheetah reintroduction would also significantly enhance local community livelihoods through eco-tourism prospective customers in the long term. ”
Signed in Brand new Delhi with Namibia’s deputy prime minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, the deal will also see the two countries collaborate within areas of climate alter, waste and wildlife management.
The particular Kuno-Palpur National Recreation area in Madhya Pradesh state was chosen as the new home for the cheetahs due to its abundant prey base and grasslands which were found suitable for the particular felines.
“The main goal of cheetah reintroduction project is to establish viable cheetah metapopulation in India that allows the cheetah to perform its functional role as a best predator, ” the environment ministry said inside a statement.
The particular cheetah is the only large carnivore believed to have gone vanished in India, mainly due to hunting for the distinctive, spotted pelts and habitat reduction.
Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo is widely believed to have killed the final three recorded cheetahs in India within the late 1940s.
India is also planning to ship in some cheetahs from South Africa but a formal pact has yet to become signed.
Regarded vulnerable under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the cheetah has a declining people of less than seven, 000 – discovered primarily in African savannas.