Cheetah Action Plan : Plan to bring Cheetah to India in the year 2022
Cheetah Action Plan – Recently, an Indian delegation visited Namibia, popularly known as the ‘World’s Cheetah Capital’.
A plan is being prepared to appoint Namibian cheetahs as the Goodwill Ambassador of Namibia on the occasion of India’s 75th Independence Day.
Glim related to the event:
- In 2013, the Supreme Court had stayed the proposal to bring African cheetahs from Namibia to the Indian habitat on an experimental basis. This ban was removed by the Supreme Court in the year 2020 (after seven years).
- The ban was imposed by the Supreme Court in the year 2013 due to the plan to resettle lions in the Kuno-Palpur sanctuary itself and on suspicion of lack of food (hunting) for the cheetahs.
- In addition, a plan of action to resettle the cheetah in India was also initiated. Under this, a plan was made to bring 50 cheetahs to India in five years.
Reintroduction of Cheetahs:
- It is much easier to resettle African Cheetahs (UCN Status: Vulnerable or Vulnerable) to India than Asiatic Cheetahs (UCN Status: Critically Endangered). The main reason behind this is that Asiatic cheetahs are found only in Iran in very small numbers.
- The cheetah is a keystone species of dry forests, scrub forests and savannas.
- The cheetah was declared extinct in India in 1952 due to overhunting and habitat loss.
- Cheetah is the fastest terrestrial mammal in the world.
- It is listed in Appendix I (Appendix I) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Source – The Hindu
