Read Time: 10 minutes

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has told the Supreme Court that none of Cheetahs, translocated from Namibia and South Africa to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, has died due to unnatural reasons such as poaching, snaring, poisoning, road hits, electrocution etc.

It maintained that mortalities are not unduly alarming, though the situation is troubling and in need of redressal and curtailment.

"The provisional diagnosis of mortality events point towards natural causes... the NTCA today has no reason to believe that the mortalities were caused on account of any inherent unsuitability at the Kuno site," the authority said in a written response filed on July 31.

It further said that this is noteworthy to mention that the general scientific awareness is that being an integral part of the ecosystem, cheetahs in general have very low survival rates i.e. 50% in adults even in non-introduced populations. 

"In the case of introduced population the survival rates are even much lower taking other variables into account which may lead to about 10% survival in cubs, and thus, mortalities though troubling and in need of redressal and curtailment are not unduly alarming," it said in an affidavit.

The response from the NTCA came after the Supreme Court has on July 20 said that 40 % deaths of translocated cheetahs in less than one year painted a worrying picture of the state of affairs. The court had also asked the Union government to consider if the feline can be shifted to some other sanctuaries.

In yet another setback to the cheetah programme, a female cheetah died at Kuno National Park on Wednesday, August 2, taking the toll to six among the adult felines imported from Namibia and South Africa.

The NTCA said a Steering Committee comprising of experts from various fields such as Wildlife, Forest, Social Science, Ecology, Veterinary Sciences etc has been constituted to oversee and monitor the effective implementation of project cheetah in India. 

"Further, for veterinary care, day to day management and monitoring and other specific aspects related to ecology and behaviour of cheetahs is being done in consultation with international experienced cheetah experts, when and where required and in conformity with the scientific Action Plan. The best possible veterinary support and health care is provided to the cheetahs to ensure their survival in natural ecosystem," it said.

The authority said as per the advice of the Steering Committee all cheetahs are being captured and critical medical examination is done. Prophylactic treatment is being administered to all surviving cheetahs. 

A review of project implementation consultation with international cheetah experts and veterinarians in cheetah management and training and capacity building of veterinarians, frontline staff and officials in cheetah management are being done, it added.

With regard to the court's query if those cheetahs could be translocated to some other site, the NTCA said Mukundra Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan is not in a position to accommodate cheetahs at present due to various reasons, including deaths/disappearance of five tigers in year 2020 within a very short span of time. Some of the tigers death appeared to be due to tick and parasitic infection. Recently, one more reintroduced tigress was also found dead in Mukundra. It also pointed out 80 per sq km enclosure is having a large number of feral cattle carrying a significant amount of parasitic load which can be detrimental to the survival chances to the cheetahs. Further, according to current data approximately 57% posts of frontline staff are lying vacant in Mukundra.

However, the NTCA said per the Action Plan, Kuno National Park, Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary and Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh and Shahgarh Bulge, Bhainsrorgarh Wildlife Sanctuary and enclosure of Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan are the potential sites identified for cheetah introduction. 

"Introduction of Cheetah in these sites depend upon the continued availability of cheetah from African Countries for sourcing as well as the status of habitat, prey base and protection mechanism on the ground," it said.

Keeping these variables in mind the introduction of cheetah is being done in a phased manner. After Kuno National Park, Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary and Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary are being prepared for introduction of cheetah. And subsequently all other potential cheetah introduction sites (including Mukundra) would be prepared in a phased manner, it added.

It is to be noted following the Supreme Court's order of January 28, 2020, the NTCA has taken steps to operationalise the introduction of African Cheetahs to India through the launch of Project Cheetah.

Following the signing of the MoU with Republic of Namibia, a first batch of 8 cheetahs (5 females and 3 males) were successfully translocated from Namibia to Kuno National Park on September 17, 2022.

Under the provisions of the MoU signed with South Africa, 12 Cheetahs (7 males, 5 females) were translocated from South Africa to Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh, India on February 18, 2023.

Case Title: Centre for Environmental Law WWF-I Vs. Union of India & Ors.