23 May 2021

Introduction:

World’s fastest land animal, Cheetah is expected to be reintroduced in India. Cheetah will be introduced at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh in November 2021.

Highlights:

• India had spotted its last Cheetah in Chhattisgarh in 1947. After the death of last Cheetah, it was declared extinct in 1952.
• Approval for this had also given by Supreme Court of India had also given in January 2020 to introduce African cheetahs in a suitable habitat in India as an experiment to see if they can adapt to the environment.
• Thus, Cheetah Reintroduction Project was prepared by Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
• Madhya Pradesh had started the process of creating an enclosure for around 10 cheetahs. It includes five females as well. They will be brought from South Africa.

 Kuno National Park:

• Kuno is located in Chambal region.
• It is spread across an area of 750 sq km.
• Park has a conducive environment for cheetah.
• It is a protected area which is having considerable population of four-horned antelopes, nilgai, chinkara, spotted deer and wild boar.
• Thus, the park has a good prey base for cheetahs.

About Cheetah

• The fastest land animal is native to Africa and central Iran.
• It can attain running speed of 80 to 128 km/h. Cheetah is listed in “vulnerable category” of International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) red list of threatened species.
• This is because, its population has declined to 7100 (as of 2016) and are found primarily in African savannas.