Return of the cheetah ?

Indicating the government’s seriousness to reintroduce cheetah that went extinct in the country, E nvironment Minister Jairam Ramesh will soon visit South Africa to discuss the ways to translocate the spotted big cats. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) had already identified 11 locations, Gujarat being one of them where cheetahs can be repopulated in the next 30 years, Ramesh said. The other places are Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jharkhand. Gujarat has already got two cheetahs, which were recently open for public view at the Sakkarbaug zoo in Junagadh. He said that the WII, which had been asked to do a feasibility study for the exercise, would submit its report next month. “Self-sustainable population should be our main aim. Desert National Park and Talchappar in Rajasthan, Bhal, Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary and Banni Sanctuary in Gujarat, Kuno and Nauradhi in Madhya Pradesh can be considered.” “But efforts need to be made to relocate people (in these areas) and ensure healthy prey-base before the spotted cats can be released in the national parks,” a senior WII scientist said. The step has come in the wake of demands from a section of NGOs such as the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) to translocate in India the fastest animal on earth which were last seen in the country in 1960s. The idea gathered momentum following a workshop organised last year in Rajasthan which was attended by cheetah experts from Iran, South Africa, WII and National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) besides WTI which had conceived the animal relocation plan. Unlike their Asiatic cousins, African cheetahs stalk prey in semi-arid and partially forested grasslands.