Death of cheetahs in Kuno increased tension, will shifts be done in other sanctuaries?

Kuno National Park: The government’s concern has now increased regarding the death of cheetahs in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park. The government has also come on alert mode. After continuous discussions, it is being told that now emphasis is being laid on the process of releasing the remaining cheetahs in another park in Madhya Pradesh. Out of the cheetahs brought from Africa, 6 have died so far. Continuous efforts are being made to find out what is the reason behind the death of cheetahs. The Supreme Court has also said to shift the cheetahs somewhere else.

An attempt will be made to resettle the cheetahs in the Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary of Mandsaur before the month of November. Apart from this, some cheetahs can be released in Nauradehi Sanctuary. In the meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in Bhopal, a discussion was held between CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav and members of the authority regarding the shifting of cheetahs. However, the question is whether the leopards will be safe in Gandhi Sagar and Nauradehi?

The expert committee of the Wildlife Institute of India had selected 6 places in the year 2020 and tested them before bringing the cheetahs to India. These included Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve, Shergarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan, Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, Kuno National Park, Madhav National Park and Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh.

Kuno National Park was considered the most favorable

Out of all these, Kuno National Park was chosen. Earlier in the year 2021, a report had come out regarding Kuno. In this report, Kuno was considered most favorable for cheetahs. Now in such a situation, 6 cheetahs have died in this park, which is considered to be the safest, so the worry is that how the cheetahs will be able to stay safe in any other place.

The main reasons for not keeping cheetahs in Gandhi Sagar and Nauradehi were the lack of prey and the temperature of the place. Cheetahs were last seen in the country in the year 1948 and they were also hunted. In such a situation, special care had to be taken for the safety of cheetahs being brought from the African country Namibia. Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary was considered the safest for this. Why Gandhi Sagar and Nauradehi were not chosen?

Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary

A site evaluation was done from 24 to 25 November 2020 regarding Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary. It was said that there would be a shortage of prey for cheetahs in this area. Along with this, questions were also raised on the issues related to the quality of living and park management. It was said in the assessment that there is a need to increase the security in the Wild Life Sanctuary. The community living in the area is also non-vegetarian. The Forest Department was then insisting that poaching is not a problem at present.

Nauradehi Wild Life Sanctuary

Now let’s talk about Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary situated between Sagar, Damoh and Narsinghpur districts of Madhya Pradesh. Area 1197.04 sq km, high-low hills, border connected to Bandhavgarh National Park. It rains here till 1552 and the temperature is also not difficult. Nilgai, chital, sambhar, chinkara, deer and wild boar are available for hunting but better management is needed. Water scarcity is a big problem in summer. There is also a lot of human population here.

When were cheetahs brought to India?

The first batch of cheetahs came to India from Namibia in the month of September last year. In which eight cheetahs were involved and they were released by PM Modi in Kuno National Park on 17th September on the occasion of his birthday. After this, in February this year, 12 cheetahs were brought from South Africa and they were also released in Kuno National Park.

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