What is Project Cheetah? Who is behind it, Advantages, Challenges & more

The fastest land animal Cheetah was declared extinct in India in 1952. And to restore the open forest and grassland ecosystem, 8 cheetahs are brought to India from Namibia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi released on Saturday released the large cat native to Africa and Central Iran on Saturday at Kuna National Park in Madhya Pradesh. Read and know all about Project cheetah with this article.

What is Project Cheetah?

Project Cheetah is the world’s first inter-continental large wild carnivore translocation project. Under the movement, eight spotted cats are released in Kuno National Park Namibia in relevance to an MoU signed earlier this year. Out of the eight Cheetahs, there are five female and three male Cheetahs.

ये दुर्भाग्य रहा कि हमने 1952 में चीतों को देश से विलुप्त तो घोषित कर दिया, लेकिन उनके पुनर्वास के लिए दशकों तक कोई सार्थक प्रयास नहीं हुआ।

आज आजादी के अमृतकाल में अब देश नई ऊर्जा के साथ चीतों के पुनर्वास के लिए जुट गया है: PM @narendramodi

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) September 17, 2022

The Prime Minister making the historic move released Cheetahs at two different points in Kuno National Park. This initiative was part of a long series of measures to maintain sustainability and environmental protection in the last eight years. 

Also, this initiative to bring back Cheetas has given birth to hopes for the restoration of the open forest and grassland ecosystems.

What are the advantages of introducing ‘Cheetahs’ back to the Indian forest?

The release of wild Cheetahs in Kuno National Park is part of a movement to revitalize and diversify India’s wildlife and habitat. The spotted cat will help to conserve biodiversity and enhance the ecosystem services like water security, carbon sequestration, and soil moisture conservation, resulting in various benefits for human existence.

Also according to mythology, Cheetahs are an essential part of Hindu culture. They are meant to symbolize grandeur, power, beauty, fierceness, and courage.

What are the common challenges for Project Cheetah?

Climate change is quoted as one of the main reasons for the extinction of Cheetahs. The worldly appraised movement to bring back is surrounded by various challenges. The major threat to the survival of Cheetahs is competition with similar size predators and humans. 

According to experts from Africa, leopards are known to attack adult cheetahs whereas the cheetah cubs turn to prey for spotted hyenas. And Kuno National Park is home to 9 leopards per 100 sq kilometers.

Thinking of all these events, the government has ensured different measures for the safety and security of spotted cats. Along with forest officials, two elephants Lakshmi and Siddhnath are brought from Satpura Tiger Reserve for the protection of African Cheetah.

Following this, a group of students and villagers are also organized to sensitize people about Cheetahs, popularly known as ‘CheetahMitra’.

Also, read about the basic differences between cheetahs, lions, leopards, and tigers.