The Indian government’s ambitious plan to reintroduce cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) into suitable Indian habitat has faced many challenges. But the latest Project Cheetah setback may doom the project.
Javan, the projects only free ranging cat has been found dead, possibly from suspected drowning. Since cheetahs rarely drown the actual cause of death is still under investigation.
The death of the cat throws the project into confusion and may be the final Project Cheetah setback.
As envisioned the plan involved transplanting cheetahs from Namibia to India. The transplanted cats were to be acclimated to life in India and then released. But many of the transplanted cats have died. The others are in captive isolation and may not be released into the wild.
India has had a number of conservation successes, including Project Tiger, which helped bring the regal cat back from the brink of extinction. The potential failure of Project Cheetah has brought out critical response.
“Dr Ravi Chellam, a wildlife biologist and conservation scientist, believes that India’s cheetah endeavour has reached a conservation dead end, with little hope for revival.
When asked if the multimillion dollar cheetah project could be salvaged, Chellam’s response was blunt: “Not really, because we’ve put the cart before the horse.”
“We should have first prepared a sufficient extent of suitable habitat and then brought the cats. Instead, the cats have been here in India for nearly two years, and we are still preparing small fragments of habitat, fencing these areas, and focusing on captive breeding,” he said.
The longer the surviving cats remain in captivity the less hope for successful reintroduction, some experts say.
The deceased cat was named Pavan and his life and death echoes that of P-22. P-22 was the famous Los Angeles mountain lion (Puma concolor) whose exploits pushed development of the Liberty Canyon overcrossing. He succumbed to old age, chronic disease and the results of a car strike. He was one of over 100 of the big cats
studied by the National Park Service (NPS) in the Sant Monica Mountains,
“Dr Laurie Marker, one of the world’s foremost cheetah experts, said the recent death marks a significant setback.
“[Pavan’s death is] very sad. He had been out for nearly two years, showing how well wild cheetahs can live,” Marker told This Week in Asia.
“Reintroduction is a very, very hard process. We need many cheetahs to re-establish an extinct population. The process is not easy. We will celebrate Pavan’s life for helping his species regain territory in India. I ask all of India to honour him and what he stands for,” Marker said.” Marker is executive director of theCheetah Conservation Fund.
The Project Cheetah setback has to be viewed against the risks facing cheetahs world wide. There are about 7,000 thought to be alive now, the majority in Africa. Asiatic cheetahs survive in Iran in a complex political situation. They may number as few as 30 and as many as 100. The Iranian Cheetah Society is seeking to protect the surviving cheetahs in that region.