Cheetah Death at Kuno National Park

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• Project Cheetah
• What is Project Cheetah?
• News Summary: Cheetah death at Kuno National Park
• Were these unfortunate cheetah deaths unexpected?
• Is shifting the goalpost a viable step?
• How do cheetahs die?
• What options are available to the Cheetah project now?

Why in news?

• The Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh lost yet another Cheetah when a six-year-old male feline, translocated from South Africa in February, died recently.
• This is the second cheetah death in Kuno after the translocation of the big cats from Namibia and South Africa to India that started in September 2022.
  • On March 27, a Namibian cheetah named Sasha had died of kidney complications.

What is Project Cheetah?

• Project Cheetah is the proposal to reintroduce cheetahs to its former habitat in India.
• The aim of the project has been to reintroduce the feline species in India after they were declared extinct in 1952.
• Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh has been selected as the most suitable site for Cheetah reintroduction under the project.
  • In September 2022, PM Modi released a coalition of cheetahs into the Kuno National Park.
    • Eight cheetahs, five of which are female, were flown from Windhoek, Namibia, to Gwalior.
    • It was the first intercontinental transfer of wild cats into India since independence.
  • Later, in February 2023, 12 South African cheetahs were released into enclosures inside Kuno National Park.
• Discussions to bring the Cheetah back to India were initiated in 2009 by the Wildlife Trust of India.
  • Under the ‘Action Plan for Reintroduction of Cheetah in India’, 50 cheetahs will be brought from African countries to various national parks over 5 years.

News Summary: Cheetah death at Kuno National Park

Were these unfortunate cheetah deaths unexpected?

• Cheetah Project anticipated high mortality
  • The Cheetah Project did anticipate high mortality.
  • The criteria for the project’s short-term success was only 50% survival of the introduced cheetah for the first year. That would be 10 out of 20.
• Project overestimated Kuno’s carrying capacity for cheetahs
  • The project came under pressure after a number of experts pointed out that it had overestimated Kuno’s carrying capacity for cheetahs.
  • Hence, the Madhya Pradesh government set a six-month deadline for readying Gandhisagar — in the Chambal river valley in Mandsaur and Nimach districts — for the cheetahs.
  • There is also talk about moving a few animals from Kuno to the safety of an 80-sq-km fenced area in Rajasthan’s Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve.
• Shifting goalposts
  • The project’s stated purpose was that of establishing the cheetah in an open landscape as a free-roaming and self-sustaining population occupying thousands of square miles.
  • However, it seems that the focus is shifting to managing the African imports as a few pocket populations in fenced-in or restricted areas.

Is shifting the goalpost a viable step?

• In the absence of natural dispersal, managing a meta-population involves moving suitable individuals from one pocket population to another to maintain genetic viability.
• In 2018, a study documented how meta-population management conserved a declining population of 217 cheetahs in 40 small populations in South Africa.

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How do cheetahs die?

• The South African study documented the causes of mortality, where it could be established, for 293 cheetah deaths.
• Deaths attributed to handling and management
  • Almost 15%, one in every seven, cheetah deaths was attributed to handling and management.
  • It included deaths die due to holding camps, immobilisation/ transit and due to tracking devices.
• Predation – the biggest killer
  • Predation turned out to be the biggest killer in the study, accounting for 53.2% of cheetah mortality.
  • Lions, leopards, hyenas, and jackals were primarily responsible.
• High cub mortality
  • It is well documented that cheetahs suffer very high cub mortality — up to 90% in protected areas — mainly due to predation.

What options are available to the Cheetah project now?

• The Cheetah Project can choose to cut the risk by settling for the South African model of retaining a few pocket populations in fenced-in reserves.
• Also, the project has to find a way for people and cheetahs to share space in the central Indian landscape.
• In the long run, the success of the cheetah project will be determined within the framework of India’s traditional conservation ethos.
  • India’s traditional conservation ethos envisages protecting naturally dispersing wildlife in viable non-fragmented habitats.

Q1) Where is Kuno National Park?

 Kuno National Park is a protected area located in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The park covers an area of 344 square kilometers and is known for its diverse flora and fauna. The park is home to several endangered species including the Asiatic lion, which was once found across Asia but is now restricted to the Gir Forest in Gujarat.

Q2) What is Cheetah?

Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a large-sized and slender built carnivorous mammal that belongs to the family Felidae. They are well-known for their incredible speed and are the fastest land animals on Earth, capable of reaching speeds up to 70 miles per hour (112 kilometers per hour) in short bursts covering distances up to 460 meters.

Source: What causes cheetah deaths, and why confining them may not help | The Hindu | India Today