India to get 18 cheetahs
The ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) is taking the ambitious step of relocating 18 cheetahs from Iran, Namibia, South Africa and West Asia to three wildlife reserves in India.
The three sites recommended by scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) are the Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary and Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh and Shahgarh Landscape in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.
All three sites require preparation and resource investment prior to the relocation but the MoEF is confident of completing this in the coming months. Senior WII scientist Y.V. Jhala submitted a report to the MoEF on Wednesday titled “Assessing the Potential for Reintroducing the Cheetah in India” in which he claimed the “reintroduction of large carnivores would help conserve threatened species and restore ecosystem functions”.
It was with this in mind that global experts had met at Gajner in September 2009 and decided to conduct a detailed survey of possible sites for the reintroduction of the cheetah.
A group of experts thoroughly examined seven sites in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. They carried out field surveys to collect data on abundance of prey and local community dependencies on forest resources, and used remote sensing data to assess habitat size. The current and potential carrying capacity of the sites to support cheetahs were also computed using population habitat viability analysis.
The Kuno Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary is part of the Sheopur-Shivprti forested landscape and has the second largest area (6,800 sq. km) amongst the surveyed sites. This site was rated high on the priority list because a lot of restorative investment has already been done there for introducing Asiatic lions. The protected area can sustain 27 cheetahs. The Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary is part of a forested landscape which, given current prey densities, can sustain 25 cheetahs. The report suggested that 23 human settlements in the core area would have to be relocated to allow 50 cheetahs to form a source population here.
The Shahgarh landscape on the international border in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district was found suitable as the area was already fenced. Additional fencing would provide for a much larger settlement encompassing 4,000 sq. km of xerophytic habitat (plants able to survive where there is little available water or moisture) and could support 15 cheetahs.
Environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh pointed out, “It is important to bring the cheetah back as it will help restore the grasslands of India.” Mr Ramesh added, “The way the tiger restores forest ecosystems, the snow leopard restores mountain ecosystems, and the Gangetic dolphin restores waters in the rivers, in the same way the cheetah will restore our grasslands.”
Comments
WOW !! great news and I am
shaun
22 Aug 2010 - 11:55
WOW !! great news and I am loving it.. But in my heart there is this sinkin feeling about how the beautiful cats will cope up wit one billion+ of us clamping down on their habitat..
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