News Highlight
South Africa Translocates 12 Cheetahs to India in a Cooperation Agreement on 17 February 2023.
Key Takeaway
- Twelve cheetahs will leave South Africa for India later today (Friday) as part of an endeavour to increase the cheetah meta-population.
- In addition, cheetahs will be reintroduced to a former range state following their local extinction due to overhunting and habitat destruction over the last century.
India-South Africa Cheetah Pact 2023
- Overview
- India and South Africa (SA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to relocate more than 100 cheetahs to India over the next decade.
- The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cheetah Reintroduction to India promotes stakeholder cooperation.
- It is to develop a viable and safe cheetah population in India.
- It also encourages conservation by ensuring that expertise is shared and transferred and capacity building to support cheetah conservation.
- The MoU between India and South Africa on the translocation of cheetahs states that 12 big cats may arrive in India in February 2023.
- Also, the goal is to build a robust and genetically varied cheetah population in India by translocating 12 cheetahs per year for the following eight to ten years.
- The provisions of the MoU on Cooperation in the Reintroduction of the Cheetah to India shall be revised every five years.
Cheetahs
- About
- The cheetah is one of the most ancient big cat species, with ancestors dating back more than five million years to the Miocene epoch.
- The cheetah is also the fastest terrestrial mammal on the planet, living in Africa and Asia.
Asiatic Cheetah
- Scientific Name
- Acinonyx Jubatus Venaticus
- Characteristic
- African Cheetahs are slightly smaller.
- They have pale yellowish fawn skin and thicker fur under their body, particularly on the belly.
- Distribution
- Only found in Iran, with fewer than 100 individuals remaining.
- Protection
- IUCN Red List: critically endangered.
- CITES: Appendix 1.
- WPA: Schedule-II.
African Cheetah
- Scientific Name
- Acinonyx Jubatus
- Characteristics
- They have thicker skin that is slightly brownish and golden than Asiatic Cheetahs.
- They have far more noticeable spots and lines on their faces than their Asian cousins.
- Distribution
- Thousands of these can be found throughout the African continent.
- Protection
- IUCN Red List: Vulnerable.
- CITES: Appendix 1.
- WPA: Schedule-II.
Threats faced by the species
- Human-wildlife conflict, habitat decline, prey loss, and illegal trafficking are all issues.
- Deforestation and cultivation reduced forest land and cheetah habitat.
- Climate change and rising human populations have only exacerbated these issues.
Indian Conservation Efforts
- The Wildlife Institute of India prepared a Rs 260-crore cheetah Reintroduction project seven years ago.
- This could be the first intercontinental cheetah translocation project in history.
- The Ministry of Environment announced an “Action Plan for Cheetah Introduction in India” during the 19th meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
- The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has chosen to bring 50 African cheetahs from Namibia into the country during the next five years.
Pic Courtesy: The Hindu
Content Source: PIB