[Answered] The cheetah re-introduction programme has a larger goal of improving India’s grasslands. Do you think, this is an optimal way to conserve India’s grasslands?

The Cheetah Reintroduction project aims to establish a viable cheetah metapopulation in India that allows the cheetah to perform its functional role as a top predator and provide space for the expansion of the cheetah within its historic range thereby contributing to its global conservation efforts. India has translocated 8 African cheetahs from Namibia and 12 from South Africa.

An optimal way to conserve India’s grasslands:

• It is a grassland-based species. In saving the cheetah other species which are grassland based and endangered are also saved.
• Cheetahs do indicate the overall wellness of open areas, meadows and grasslands and the ungulate populations (deer and chinkara)/cheetahs’ usual prey.
• So, the health of the cheetah population does count as a surrogate marker of the health of the grasslands.
• As it has been seen in the case of tigers (The Project Tiger 1973), there has been a remarkable increase in the tiger reserves from 9 to 53. Therefore, it is expected that reintroduction of cheetahs will also help in the improvement of the ecosystem.

Challenges of cheetah re-introduction programme:

• Cheetahs may not help in restoring grasslands until India addresses other issues. For example, The Wasteland Atlas of India still categorises large stretches of open natural ecosystems as wasteland.
• Renewable energy projects are granted large tracts of open natural ecosystems, to establish solar panels. The level of human presence is high in these grassland.
• Lack of sufficient prey in Kuno National Park(KNP) was a “concerning” situation.
• The carrying capacity of the ecosystem is limited. There have been no proper studies about it.
• The increase in species and their numbers may lead to more human-animal conflicts.
• There is a lack of suitable habitats of sufficient size for them. In the best of habitats like Kenya and Tanzania, cheetahs exist in very low densities of around 1 per 100 sq km. The area of KNP is only748 sq kms. It can at best accommodate only 10 Cheetahs.
• The 21 cheetahs that are projected after 15 years, that too at one site is insufficient to conserve grassland.
• Confining the animal to one Protected Area increases its vulnerability to epidemics.

Cheetah conservation can be used for consolidation of grassland and shrubland that are decaying. Eco-tourism along with conservation can be promoted. However, there is also a need to address the challenge associated with it because there have been experiences that people over do it.