By: Andrew Kathindi
India has rejected three of eight Namibian cheetahs that were to be translocated to that country as part of a memorandum of understanding on wildlife conservation and sustainable biodiversity utilisation between the two states.
The cheetahs were captured and are being quarantined in the country before relocating to Kuno wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh.
However, Yadvendradev Vikramsinh Jhala, the dean of the Wildlife Institute of India, who is also one of the experts in the conservation initiative, allegedly found three of the cheetahs to have been captive-bred and cannot hunt wild prey.
It has been reported that timid cheetahs in the Madhya Pradesh forest, which is full of leopards, might turn out badly.
“The ones being replaced were captive-bred. They cannot hunt prey in the wild. So they are being replaced,” a Madhya Pradesh forest officer is quoted to have said.
However, environment, forestry, and tourism ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda denied that the three cheetahs were captive-bred.
“We are aware that India rejected three of those cheetahs.
In terms of what is being done, there’s nothing actually.
The Namibian government was not involved in the selection of the cheetahs. The Indian government was working with the cheetah conservation fund. As I understand from the cheetah conservation fund, the claim that these cheetahs were bred in captivity is not true. Of course, they were rehabilitated from the time they were young. But the cheetah conservation fund assures us that these cheetahs are able to hunt and adapt to nature or wild environments,” he told The Villager.
He said the Indian government wanted three other cheetahs recently taken to the cheetah conservation fund for rehabilitation to replace the three they rejected, but those will be released elsewhere to increase Namibia’s cheetah population. He said India will have to settle for five.
“We have indicated to the Indian government that we don’t want to compromise on our cheetah population, so we are not able to replace those three at the moment.”
The cheetahs are still in Namibia, as a date for translocation has not yet been established.
On when the animals are to be moved to India, he said, “there was an issue of permits that needed to be sorted out; that has been sorted out. Logistics in terms of flights is supposed to be sorted by the Indian government.”
The cheetahs are not sold but will be translocated as part of the 5-year MOU, in exchange for which India is to offer wildlife management personnel for training and education and also support Namibian personnel in smart patrol, population estimation techniques and surveillance and monitoring. Cheetahs became extinct in India 70 years ago.
The translocation will be possible only after approval from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
CITES is responsible for ensuring that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species.
While a date is not yet confirmed, Madhya Pradesh forest minister Vijay Shah is quoted as saying, “anyhow, by the first week of November.”
