Cheetahs sent to India as part of effort to revive species

• Cheetahs have arrived in India.
• To reintroduce them to a former range state following their extinction.
• Due to overhunting and loss of habitat in the last century.

In an effort to save the cheetah species after it was extinct for a long time, twelve of them have arrived in India.

The cats, which are native to Namibia, were brought into India on Saturday via flight from Johannesburg, South Africa, according to the Indian Air Force.

The cheetahs will then be transported by helicopter from the India Air Force to Kuno National Park in the state of Madhya Pradesh, where they will be released. Eight cheetahs that were transported from Namibia in September of last year will join them.

According to a joint statement from the Department of Forests, Fisheries and the Environment in South Africa and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India, the cheetahs are a part of an attempt by South Africa and India to reintroduce the cheetah in India.

The initiative would “expand the cheetah meta-population and reintroduce cheetahs to a former range state following their local extinction due to overhunting and loss of habitat in the last century,” the statement said.

Also Read

Namibia reported a record amount of rhino poaching

87 rhinos killed in Namibia last year - almost twice as many...

In 1952, India declared cheetahs extinct, it continued.

According to the statement, all twelve of the cheetahs were raised in the wild and are accustomed to living with their natural predators.

Cheetahs are known to be preyed upon by eagles and other big cats.

In January, the environmental department of South Africa announced a proposal to move an additional 12 cheetahs every year for the following “eight to 10 years.”

Less than 7,000 cheetahs remain in the wild, mostly in Namibia, Botswana, Kenya, and Tanzania in southern and eastern Africa, according to the World Wide Fund (WWF).

The creatures, however, once roamed a considerably wider area. Cheetahs once roamed the majority of sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and central India. Population declines caused by habitat degradation, poaching, and conflicts with people are significant.

Also Read

India allows introduction of dozen South African cheetahs

India and South Africa agree to send dozens of cheetahs back to...