A dozen cheetahs quarantined in South Africa for more than four months have lost physical condition while awaiting transfer to Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park (KNP) as the formal signing of an agreement is delaying their intercontinental translocation, experts have said. wild life. .
They said the prolonged quarantine is affecting the health of these big cats, which are scheduled to join eight cheetahs imported from Namibia and released at KNP in Sheopur district in mid-September.
In fact, the 12 South African cheetahs, seven males and five females, have not hunted for themselves even once after being in bomas (small enclosures), said wildlife experts familiar with the cheetah reintroduction plan. India.
Although there has been some progress in the implementation of the Cheetah Project with South Africa in recent days, Pretoria has yet to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian government for the transfer of the spotted cats to KNP.
Three of them have been kept at the Phinda quarantine boma in KwaZulu-Natal province and nine at the Rooiberg quarantine boma in Limpopo province since July 15, experts said.
“They have lost considerable physical shape as they have not hunted even once since July 15,” one of the experts said. ITP.
They could have gotten fatter like humans sitting around doing nothing, he said, adding that a running animal has toned muscles and fitness.
Asked about the delay in signing a memorandum of understanding, the expert said South African Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy approved India’s proposal on cheetah translocation last week.
Now, the South African president will clear the proposal to sign a formal agreement between the two countries, he added.
Another expert said a South African delegation visited KNP in early September to see arrangements at the wildlife sanctuary to house the world’s fastest land mammals.
“Everything is positive about the project, but the MoU has not been signed yet. The delegation was satisfied with the arrangements in KNP. I think the MoU between New Delhi and Pretoria will be signed this month,” the second expert said.
When contacted, Madhya Pradesh Chief Forest (Wildlife) Conservator JS Chauhan said they were ready to receive South African cheetahs.
“I think the MoU will be signed shortly,” added the senior forestry official.
The physical condition of the South African cheetahs is cause for concern as they will have to keep an eye out for the robust leopards in KNP when they arrive in India, said Ajay Dubey, a wildlife expert and founding secretary of Prayatna, an NGO that works for conservation. of the tiger
In Africa, leopards have been known to attack adult cheetahs.
“Leopards account for 9% of cheetah mortality in South Africa,” he said.
However, he noted that leopards and cheetahs had coexisted in India for centuries before the latter became extinct in the country.
Forest department officials said there were 70 to 80 leopards in KNP, which stretches over an area of 1,200 square kilometers, including the buffer zone.
“The South African cheetahs that made it to India were born and bred among leopards. They know how to avoid them,” the wildlife experts said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his 72nd birthday on September 17, had released eight cheetahs that arrived from Namibia to KNP with much fanfare, kick-starting their population revival in India, where these distinctively spotted cat species are seven decades went extinct. behind.
These Namibian wild animals, five females and three males, are currently in game enclosures in the park prior to their full release into the wild.
Four months ago, India wanted to import eight cheetahs from Namibia and 12 from South Africa for release at KNP to add sparkle to the 75th Independence Day celebrations. But the plan did not materialize, wildlife experts said.
In July, the cheetahs selected by Indian officials for translocation had completed a month in quarantine, but could not be airlifted to KNP in the absence of South African government approval, they added.
Around Independence Day, the eight Namibian cheetahs had not completed their quarantine period, so the Indian government could not bring them to KNP as well, experts said.
Under India’s wildlife laws, a one-month quarantine is mandatory before animals are imported and they must be kept in isolation for another 30 days after arrival in the country.
According to experts, the metapopulation of spotted animals (counts of cheetahs in small and medium parks) in South Africa has increased to 504 from 217 in 2011.
The last cheetah died in India in the Koriya district of present-day Chhattisgarh in 1947 and the big cat species was declared extinct in 1952.
Former Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had started ‘Project Cheetah’ in 2009 under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government with the aim of reintroducing feral cats to India.
