Twelve South African cheetahs began a journey to India on Friday as part of an intergovernmental agreement to reintroduce the big cats to India and set to arrive on Saturday. These 12 cheetahs will join eight others from neighbouring Namibia that were released into the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh last year.
“The 12 cheetahs… have begun their journey to India,” tweeted minister for environment, forest and climate change Bhupender Yadav on Friday, adding they were expected to arrive on Saturday.
Top updates on 12 cheetahs arriving from South Africa:
1. The 12 cheetahs were sedated and loaded into crates, and on their way to Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport.
2. The Indian Air Force’s C-17 Globemaster Cargo plane is bringing the 12 cheetahs from South Africa. The Cheetahs will be translocated to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.
3. The cheetahs, 7 male and 5 female are the first of dozens that South Africa has promised India over the next decade.
4. A subspecies similar but separate to the African cheetah – the fastest land animal on Earth – became extinct on the Indian subcontinent in 1952.
5. The governments of South Africa and India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation on the Re-introduction of cheetahs to India.
6. Following the import of the 12 cheetahs in February, the plan is to translocate a further 12 annually for the next eight to 10 years. Scientific assessments will be undertaken periodically to inform such translocations.
7. The eight Namibian cheetahs are now in hunting enclosures – a six square km-area where they can interact with each other – before being released into the wild. They are killing a prey every three-four days and are in good health, officials said.
8. All 12 cheetahs are wild born and have grown up among competing predators including lions, leopards, hyenas and wild dogs.
9. The cheetahs were made available by Phinda Game Reserve (3), Tswalu Kalahari Reserve (3), the Waterberg Biosphere (3), Kwandwe Game Reserve (2) and Mapesu Game Reserve (1) and their translocation is in line with IUCN guidelines for reintroductions and other conservation translocation and in accordance with international veterinary standards and protocols.
10. Worldwide, cheetah numbers have declined from an estimated 15,000 adults in 1975 to a current global population of less than 7,000 individuals.
(With inputs from agencies)
