CHEETAHS IN INDIA
THE STORY OF EXTINCTION AND REVIVAL
SARASIJ MAJUMDER
INDIAN
SCENERION-PAST.
The story of the Indian cheetah is a tale of ancient glory,
royal hunts, colonial exploitation, and the consequences of human interference
on delicate ecosystems. What was once a symbol of grace and speed in India’s
rich wildlife heritage, met a tragic fate, leading to its eventual extinction
in the country.
Cheetah's roots in India can be traced back to ancient
times. Cave paintings dating back to the Neolithic age in Gujarat and Madhya
Pradesh make it evident that cheetahs were once found across the country,
particularly in central India, where they roamed in semi-desert areas, scrub
jungles, and grasslands. Throughout history, cheetahs had a special place in
the hearts of INDIAN Kings and nobles.
They were admired for their speed and elegance, making them ideal companions
for the nobles during hunts and pastimes.
As time marched on, however, the bond between cheetahs and
nobility began to fade. The fortunes of cheetahs took a dark turn during British colonial rule.
The colonisers viewed cheetahs as a threat to their livestock and game species
and placed bounties on their heads. During colonial times, the administration actively hunted cheetahs and
gave rewards to people who captured or killed them. This hunting, along
with the loss of their homes due to human settlements and cutting down forests,
caused their numbers to decrease rapidly. In this species—survival rate of
LITTERS is also not good, as explained in later part.
I BLAME
BRITISHERS OF INDIA PRIMERILY RESPONSIBLE FOR
EXTINCT OF THIS GREAT AND BEATUFUL PREDATORS.
The cheetah is believed to have disappeared from the Indian
landscape in 1947 when Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Koriya princely
state hunted down and shot the last three recorded Asiatic cheetahs in India. Mughal
emperor Akbar, who reigned from 1556 to 1605, had 1,000 cheetahs. The animals
were used for hunting blackbucks and gazelles. – Ref.
AKBAR NAMA
The cheetah was officially declared extinct by the Indian
government in 1952.
ORDER OF POWER : LARGE PREDATORS:
1. TIGER/LION
2. HYENA
3. LEOPARD
4. WILD DOG
5. CHEETAH
Though weaker in strength, Cheetahs are best athlete amongst
the Big Cats, and mostly they hunt their
prey, more by virtue of their agility, but
also coupled with speed. Their FAR is 20, compared to 12 of LION, and 14 of
Tiger. (DATA—Ref 1)
We still have all the first
4 in the above list, in our forests and expecting to re-introduce the 5th
one.
PROJECT CHEETAH
As part of the Centre's ambitious 'Project Cheetah', a total
of 20 cheetahs were relocated to India from Africa. The first batch,
comprising eight Namibian cheetahs, were introduced in September 2022. The
second batch of 12 cheetahs was brought from South Africa in February 2023.
All of them are located in KUNO NATIONAL PARK.
Shaurya, a male from Namibia, died inside its enclosure in
Kuno on January 16 despite being treated for “weakness”, as per a report by The
Indian Express. It is
the tenth cheetah to die in Kuno. So far, seven adults and three cubs
have died due to several causes in the Park.
In August last year, the Indian government said in
a joint affidavit to the Supreme Court
that the deaths (eight cheetahs including the three cubs had died by then) were
“troubling” but “not unduly alarming”, after the apex court had asked that a
detailed affidavit explaining the reasons for the cheetah deaths and the
remedial measures being taken be submitted.
AWARENESS
We lack
awareness, Love, and respect for our neighbours in the WILD. I spent many
nights in forests of India, and felt it, saw it, and got hurt seeing the
attitude of the visitors. In their world, there is no RAPE, no Cruelty unless
required for food, and no Greed. A tiger, or a snake doesn’t hunt, if it’s
stomach is full. And, by nature, they co-exist.
Chandrababu Naidu, a forest guard working in Bannerghatta
National Park, expresses, "We haven't learned anything from the loss of
cheetahs. Nowadays, in the name of protection and conservation, we keep animals
in enclosed places like zoos, parks, and sanctuaries. However, they truly need
their natural homes. We must stop destroying forests and set them all free.
Only then can every animal have a chance to survive."
I agree with him. We must have not ZOOS, but SANATORIUM for
Wild animals who are not otherwise suitable to live freely, and need
protection. People can visit them, paying appropriately.
Despite trying to reintroduce Cheetahs to INDIA, the
initiative appears to have been not very successful so far.
A problem with survival of Cheetah’s CUB:
This,
however, is not the cause of Rehabilitation problem—but we must know this.
For cheetahs cubs, they are really not dying early, but survival rate of Cheetah
cubs, unfortunately is poor for various reasons. That's part of why number of litters are so large, up to 8. Compare that to
a leopard who rarely has a litter of 3. (Most are 2).
Cheetahs that I've personally followed the history, lost cubs and litters due to:
- Due to Wilde beast herds (trampled)
- Mothers
inexperience. A Tigress is best Mother.
- Poor
den site. Cheetahs are not very skilled in selecting their DEN. If rained,
it becomes extremely swampy and some drowned or died from
exposure/hypothermia. And rainy season is when they BREED, conceiving in
spring, early summer.
- Predators
which attack young cubs: honey badgers, birds of prey, leopards,
lions, servals, caracals, hyena, wild dog, jackals….
- Starvation
and disease.
- Poisoning/snares
- Becoming
separated—mother out for Hunting, and lost way, & never finding each other.
- Tourist
vehicles interference. Not a problem yet, for Cheetah in India. But for others.
I prefer Forests to be closed for longer period.
The vast majority of cheetah cub mortality is predation from
lions, leopard and hyena. Cubs are quick when they're a few months old, but
don't develop speed to outpace the aggressors until 8 month to-1year old.
Once cubs reach a year, they are
almost in the clear. By then they're very quick, very good climbers, and have
gained significant life experience
WHAT
EMERGE:-
Instead of
importing too many grown up CHEETAHS,
who will have rehabilitation problems, we should breed locally, in protected
environment from already imported lot and, rehabilitate the CUBS, once they are
mature i.e. 1+ years old, in groups of
4, Male + Female.
FURTHER READ:
1.0 The End of a Trail - The Cheetah in India, a book
written by Divya Bhanu Singh, the former
vice-president of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS)-(BLOGGER IS A MEMBER OF BNHS)
2.0 BNHS periodicals I receive as Member.
3.0 Image— Published in a Journal . Logo unknown and acknowledged.
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