African Cheetahs returned to India after more than 70 years through the ‘Project Cheetah’ program. ‘Project Cheetah’ where cheetahs from Namibia have been brought to India is the world's first inter-continental large wild carnivore translocation project where a large carnivorous species has been moved across continents for establishing a new population. As the Kuno National Park has diverse habitats conducive to lions and cheetahs, and hence, under Project Cheetah for bringing African Cheetahs here in Kuno an MoU was signed between India and the Namibian governments. In this series, initially, PM Narendra Modi released eight cheetahs to the enclosures inside Kuno National Park for almost a month on Sept. 17th, 2022. India again signed an agreement but now with South Africa and through this agreement in February, 7 male, and 5 female African cheetahs were translocated to Kuno National Park. The Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh, had 20 cheetahs brought in from Africa. Eight cheetahs from Namibia and 12 from South Africa were transported to India between September 2022 and February 2023 as part of an initiative to reintroduce the species to India. As per the March 2023 published report of ‘The Hindu’ newspaper Kuno National Park does not have enough prey and inadequate space to sustain more cheetahs. Talking about the death of Cheetahs, Kuno National Park’s Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) and Field Director Uttam Kumar Sharma said that nine cheetahs have died so far in Kuno, including three cheetah cubs and six adult cheetahs. Cheetahs are biological entities and they died. There could be various factors. Currently, 14 cheetahs are left at Kuno National Park, he added. According to the reports, Sash, a female cheetah died on March 27 due to kidney complications. After her, male cheetah Uday died due to heart failure on April 24. On May 9, another female named Daksha died due to a fight with another male during mating. Recently, on July 10th, 2023, one more male cheetah, named Tajas, was found injured and died from suspected infighting. Eighth Cheetah Suraj brought from Namibia died mysteriously in a lethargic state in Kuno on 14th July 2023. Most recently, three India-born cheetah cubs died at KNP on May 23 due to "weakness" and two others due to "sweltering heat and weakness." The cubs were found severely dehydrated. Despite treatment, they could not be saved. Very recently, on August 2nd, 2023 a female cheetah Tblisi renamed Dhatri in India, brought from Namibia because of ailment died at Kuno. As per reports, another female Nirbhaya is untraceable as her radio collar has stopped working. The cheetahs that have died so far include two from the African countries Namibia, four from South Africa and three cubs born to Namibian Siyaya at the end of March. There are 14 adult cheetahs and a female cub left in the Kuno National Park. Uttam K. Sharma further said that the Ministry of Environment has identified 10 sites in five central Indian states where cheetahs can be relocated further. Roughly, these sites are near Desert National Park and Darrah enclosure in Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve, Kanha, Maradahi, Gandhi Sagar, and Nauradehi wildlife sanctuaries in Madhya Pradesh; Uttar Pradesh-Madhya Pradesh border and Velavadar National Park in Gujarat. Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary at the Mandsaur and Neemach districts in Madhya Pradesh is very much on the cards at this stage. Good environment and the forest department is putting up a fence to provide additional protection, but they would still need to supplement the area with prey. So, the first preference is Gandhi Sagar and the next is Nauradehi. The Union Government said that all the cheetah deaths were due to natural causes although three cheetahs had injuries. Cheetahs Tejas and Suraj had neck infections. The wildlife officials of Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary in an interview said, “We are planning to relocate the cheetahs tentatively by the month of October to November this year. A new lot of 8-10 male and female cheetahs will be relocated to Gandhi Sagar from Africa and the shortfall will be met from the Kuno National Park as well. The viable population would be kept at Kuno too.” The official further informed, “The 7800-hectare grassland area will be developed for this project. Apart from fencing all the other vital facilities are developing here, including habitat development to water availability. We are creating an ‘L’ shaped fencing which would be open toward the Chambal River side and other sides would be enclosed. The idea to choose this site is that here the Gandhi Sagar site is getting prepared at an economical cost as compared to other sites.” The official said, “It is a panic situation for the general public. In day to day, we can’t see big cats’ movement. If we see in captivity then we can understand the mortality rate. There are various reasons for cheetah death. We don’t get success in the first or in fact in the second generation too but after reaching the third or fourth generation things get normalized. Monitoring in Kuno is being done in a very focussed manner.” Other sites As per the report of India Today, in August 2022, the National Tiger Conservation Authority, in response to a request from the Rajasthan Forest Department on relocating cheetahs to Mukundra, said the objectives of a Tiger Reserve are different and efforts are on to build a tiger population in the reserve. "The site is crucial as it provides corridor connectivity to the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve. In this context, at this juncture, the proposal for establishing a cheetah population in Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve is not agreed,” the NTCA letter accessed by India Today read. Bharat Singh, Rajasthan Congress MLA and a wildlife board member, said the state government wants cheetahs to be introduced into the Mukundra Tiger Reserve. “There isn’t a better jungle in the area for the cheetahs. But the NTCA said a tiger and cheetah can’t stay together,” Singh told. On the contrary, Bijo Joy, DCF, Wildlife, Mukundara tiger reserve stated, “They are not aware of such government plan.” A few other sites viz., Bhainsrorgarh Wildlife Sanctuary Chittorgarh, Shahgarh landscape on the Indo-Pak border in Jaisalmer, and Tal Chapar in Rajasthan are suitable for the translocation of cheetahs because of an appropriate geophysical feature of forests. As per the published report of ‘The Print’ there are various other sites that can be considered for future relocation cheetah project. A 12,500 sq km area across Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, which includes Sanjay National Park, Dubri Wildlife Sanctuary and Guru Ghasidas National Park, is the landscape in which cheetahs continued to survive until after India’s Independence. However, this area has low prey densities today and has tribal communities residing within the protected areas. Together, this landscape could support about 14 cheetahs. If conditions are improved the protected areas in this region could support over 30 cheetahs, while the landscape could hold up to 60 individuals. Banni grasslands and Kachchh Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat — with an area of over 5,800 sq. km between them — could also be considered as a potential cheetah habitat with a capacity to hold up to 50 cheetahs. However, the area needs restoration, livestock grazing management, and law enforcement to serve as potential habitat.