Science-Wise: 17 African Cheetahs Chase Survival, Questions Loom Over Biggest Wildlife Translocation

It was not very long ago that India welcomed the first batch of African cheetahs with much fanfare. For the first time in almost 70 years, the country of 1.4 billion was glued to the screens to watch eight of these amazingly fast yet extremely vulnerable felines in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park.

But just within a year of this historic translocation, three of the big cats have died — one due to pre-existing kidney ailment and the other because of a cardio-pulmonary failure. The latest death was attributed to a violent interaction between the cheetahs during courtship while they were still within the enclosures.

COULD THE DEATHS HAVE BEEN AVOIDED?

Questions now loom large over one of the world’s biggest such translocation projects, as wildlife conservationists flag concerns. Could these deaths have been avoided? Are the African animals struggling to adapt to the new environment? Is there adequate habitat available?

“None of these deaths were avoidable. Which wildlife scientist in this world would let animals die if they knew they could avert it?” remarks Dr Qamar Qureshi, lead scientist from Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun. “Such accidents happen. We had no inkling, so we went ahead and took the chance. But it can be difficult to predict how animals behave. There has been a lot of learning. Our plan is also adaptive and we will make changes as and when situations arise,” he says, referring to the recent death of a female cheetah.

A special group of wildlife experts from India and South Africa constituted by National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) visited Kuno on April 30 to review the project and advised that two enclosures be opened for animals to interact.

Several months after the big cats were airlifted from Namibia and South Africa, most of them still remain confined to six square kilometre enclosures. Of the total 17 adult cheetahs and (four cubs), only four have been released, who will be joined by another five cats before the monsoon onset. This is quite contrary to the Cheetah Action Plan according to which animals were to be released within a few weeks to a month.

WORRIES OVER PROLONGED CAPTIVITY

Prolonged captivity has proved to be a serious cause of concern as it may have put additional stress on animals. Experts from India and South Africa that News18 spoke to agree that long quarantine period was “far from ideal”.

The pressure is now building to free them at the earliest. “We have sought permission to release all the 15 animals, except two, into the wild. These animals are known for their chase, their agility and speed. Keeping them in the enclosure for so long may not be favourable,” says MP’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forests JS Chauhan.

Cheetahs are long-ranging. They explore far and wide and do not identify boundaries. One of the male cheetahs adventurously escaped into the far-reaches of the national park twice, nearly exposing itself to human-dominated spaces, before it was darted back to camp. Unlike Africa, which derives much of its wildlife conservation success from fenced reserves, the conservation model in India is different. Wildlife interacts with humans on a daily basis — which may not be as dangerous for humans, as it is for these extremely vulnerable cheetahs — known to be the weakest of all big cats.

“My position is clear. Exercise due diligence first. Identify habitats, manage them, connect them, and once the habitats are ready, then bring the cheetahs. And, not bring them first and worry about establishing the habitats later,” said senior wildlife biologist Dr Ravi Chellam, CEO of Bengaluru-based Metastring Foundation.

These big cats thrive in open grasslands — ecosystems that have been disappearing fast across the country. If officials are to release all 17 adult cheetahs, they will have to ready another large alternate site for cheetahs. All of them cannot be released in Kuno, experts say. Noradehi Sanctuary is one, but the entire exercise is daunting, and may take at least a year.

SCIENCE BEHIND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

Amid all this comes the big question. The science behind the conservation measure is debatable. When the conservation resources are limited, should they not be prioritised to save the extant species which could go extinct within a few years, rather than establishing a species that has been absent from our ecosystem for the last seven decades?

Veterinary wildlife specialist from South Africa’s University of Pretoria, Professor Adrian Tordiffe who was part of the expert group that visited Kuno in April, says the cheetah reintroduction into India is quite unprecedented, and there are new challenges that project scientists have had to face and address.

“When we take on projects of this nature, we have to accept that some mortalities are inevitable. When dealing with wild animals there are many complex situations in which certain risks have to be taken. Perhaps in hindsight, two of the three deaths may have been prevented, but hindsight is not a luxury we have. We have to make the best decisions with the current knowledge we have,” he told News18.

GRAND WILDLIFE EXPERIMENT

The endangered wildlife warrants intervention. But the trade-offs must be clearly understood. Project Cheetah is indeed a wildlife experiment, and one of the grandest in recent years. Scientists associated with the project are positive about the chances, but it is clear the final outcome is uncertain.

Over the next 15 years, many of these animals will breed and die before they show any concrete chance of establishing a meta-population.

“There is an experimental aspect to this approach, but without experimentation, you cannot gain new knowledge. It is the very foundation of the scientific approach,” contends Professor Tordiffe. “Active wildlife management is necessary if we want to save species.”