Cheetah reintroduction in India

The Government launched the Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India in January 2022. Under the plan, 50 Cheetahs will be introduced in India over the next 5 years (by 2026), from Africa.

  • Cheetahs will be relocated with help from the Wildlife Institute of India and the Wildlife Trust of India from South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. These will be located at Kuno Palpur National Park in Madhya Pradesh due to its suitable habitat and adequate prey base.
  • The plan to reintroduce the Cheetah had begun in 2009, when the Government asked the Wildlife Institute of India to survey potential sites for its reintroduction. In 2013, the Supreme Court had stayed a decision by the then environment ministry to import cheetahs from Namibia to Kuno, which it lifted in January 2020.

Cheetah in India

In India, the cheetah occurred in Rajputana (Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat), Punjab, Sind, and south of the River Ganga from Bengal to the northern part of the Deccan Plateau. It was also present in the Kaimur District, Darrah and other desert regions of Rajasthan and parts of Gujarat and Central India. It is believed that Cheetah got extinct in India after 1952.

  • The main reasons for extinction of Cheetah population in India include indiscriminate hunting, diminishing habitat and non-availability of enough prey such as black buck, gazelle and hare. Global Warming and Climate change has further exacerbated the extinction of the species.

African Cheetah

  • Around 6000-7,000 African cheetahs are found in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Chad, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Zambia etc.
  • IUCN Status - Vulnerable

Asiatic Cheetah

  • It is found only in Iran. As of January 2022, only 12 Asiatic cheetah, 9 males, and 3 females, are left in Iran
  • IUCN Status - Critically Endangered

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