Blog: As 8 Cheetahs Arrive In India, Here's What To Expect

There have been times in India when, as I have stood watching our precious grasslands, the ghost of a lean spotted cat has rippled through them. I have wistfully thought of how wonderful it would be to have the cheetah, the fastest animal in the world, blaze across my sight.

Cheetahs went extinct in India in the 1950s after the last few animals were shot dead. At one time they ranged across Africa, Asia and even Europe. Today, they are found in 19 African countries and in Iran.

But even as I have dreamed about cheetahs in our grasslands, I am uncertain of the new plans for their reintroduction. Eight cheetahs will arrive tomorrow from Namibia to Gwalior early in the morning. From Gwalior they will be airlifted by airforce choppers to Kuno national park. Here they will be released into an enclosure where they will stay for at least one month if not longer. The idea is to have the animals acclimatise well enough to become free ranging cheetahs in the wild.

Conservation plans like reintroduction and rewilding are a long game, so to have definitive opinions on whether they are good or bad ideas are not possible for at least 15 years. This is the average amount of time it takes for a species to adapt, rewild, breed and thrive well enough to become part of the new landscape to which they have been introduced.

Experts on both sides, Indian and African, are involved in this reintroduction and the animals will be very closely monitored and every opportunity will be made possible for the success of the programme, but ultimately it comes down to the animals themselves.

Cheetahs are found in a variety of habitats from the plains of the Serengeti and Mara, to the open areas of Southern Africa, to the arid Sahara where they live in higher altitudes and the rough hilly terrains of Iran. However, all of these terrains have one thing in common, which is open spaces with some shrubs and cover and prey density. Cheetahs will stalk only to get as close as they can to their prey. They are not ambush hunters but rather pursue their prey and trip them up. With speeds reaching up to 98 km per hour, they are formidable when they get going. The vulnerability lies in their bodies overheating and allowing these bursts of speed to last for just a few minutes. By design, these cats are not robust and cannot compete with the other big cats. Their lean build and long legs and non-retractable claws don't allow them the kind of strength and power of the lion, the leopard or the tiger. In Africa close, to 77% of cheetahs are found outside of protected areas in open spaces as this reduces their contact with the other big cats. However, this brings them into contact with cattle and, in turn, humans. Many cheetahs are trapped and shot in the conflict. These cats pose absolutely no danger to humans. Attacks are extremely rare, unlike with lions and leopards. In Africa, the cheetah populations are also fragmented with no one population being more than 150 animals. This has made these cats vulnerable to inbreeding. Cheetahs are either found in all-male coalitions, single adult females or males and mothers with cubs. Females roam bigger distances for prey, while all male coalitions are most successful.

The space chosen for them here, Kuno Palpo, was cleared of villages and allowed to regenerate to originally accommodate lions from Gujarat. The lion reintroduction programme however was mired in controversy for over two decades. It fell through as Gujarat from where the lions would have been moved, refused to part with their lions. Even the intervention by the Supreme Court failed to change this. Ironically, one of the biggest arguments against moving the lions was based in the concern around the long term survival of the big cat in the park. Prey base availability and the presence of tigers were cited as reasons for the failure. Previous lion reintroduction attempts have ended in failure in India. Criticism on the reintroduction of the cheetah has rehashed all these arguments along with questions around why so much money should spent on a species that is not even Indian when so much still needs to be done to secure the future of the other cats and animals of India.

Kuno has grasslands mixed in with woodlands and hilly terrain. The prey here for the cheetahs are cheetals, nilgai, sambhar, wild pig, chinkara and others. The cheetahs, being African, will have to acclimatize not only the ecosystem but to the prey. Wild instinct driven by hunger and survival will trigger the hunt, but it's still all new for them. They are also a species that do not do so well with stress. They breed poorly in captivity; in the wild in Africa, cheetah cubs in protected areas have a 90% mortality rate from predation by other big cats and hyenas. Kuno does get transient tigers moving through as it's a corridor between Ranthambore and tiger areas in Madhya Pradesh. It definitely holds leopards.

For the locals who were moved out of the park to make way for the lions, it has been over two decades of waiting for cats that never came. The tourism that will develop around the cheetahs will take a few years as the general public will not be allowed in until the cats establish themselves and there is no clear timeline on this. It would be very important to create a stake for the locals in all tourism endeavours as they have sacrificed the most for the creation of the park and are critical to the long-term success of the programme.

On the morning of 17th September which also happens to be Prime Minister Modi's birthday, the Prime Minister will personally oversee their release into the enclosure. 12 more cheetahs will arrive from South Africa at some point, taking the number to 20 animals - a small number that can start the breeding process but regular top-ups will be required with more cheetahs every year from Africa to keep the animals genetically viable.

(Swati Thiyagarajan is an Environment Editor with NDTV and author of 'Born Wild', a book about her experiences with conservation and wildlife both in India and Africa.)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.