Has the reintroduction of cheetahs to India been a success?

India welcomed four new-born cheetah cubs in late March — more than 70 years after the world's fastest land mammal was declared officially extinct there. 

The cubs' parents, Siyaya and Freddie, are two of eight rehabilitated cheetahs brought from Namibia to India's Kuno National Park (KNP) in the central state of Madhya Pradesh last September.

Another 12 cheetahs were brought from South Africa in February, in an agreement between the two countries, and put into quarantine enclosures.

India has made ambitious attempts to reintroduce the feline species. The intercontinental movement of the animals is part of the country's cheetah restoration initiative known as "Project Cheetah." The Indian government hopes 50 cheetahs will be brought in from African countries to various national parks over the next five years.

"Project Cheetah will continue. While we do understand and accept there will be losses associated with introducing these cheetahs, we also look forward to celebrating the first Indian cubs born to a Namibian cheetah," said the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), the international organization that facilitated the historic translocation.

India prepares for cheetah population

Today, some 8,000 cheetahs are found in southern and eastern Africa, particularly in Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, and Tanzania, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). A tiny population of another subspecies, the Asiatic cheetah, is found in Iran.

Before the arrival of the felines in India, expert teams from Namibia and South Africa trained Indian forest officers and wildlife experts on cheetah handling, breeding, rehabilitation, medical treatment and conservation.

Pradnya Giradkar, India's first cheetah conservation specialist, said bringing back the species has been a huge challenge.

"Cheetah is the only animal in recorded history to become extinct from India due to unnatural causes. Therefore, scientific studies on the ecological interaction between habitat composition, habitat quality and demography of cheetahs and their prey are required to maintain viability," Giridkar told DW.

She welcomed the latest cubs. "Increases in the number of reproductive events with longevity are key processes that influence annual individual performance that follows multiple generations. Of course, reproductive success depends on phenotypic, environmental, and genetic factors."

Wildlife experts concerned over inadequate space

The announcement of the cubs' arrival in March came just days after one of the Namibian cheetahs, a female named Sasha, died of kidney disease.

Ravi Chellam, a wildlife biologist and CEO at Metastring Foundation, said that as much as the death of an adult female does not signal the failure of Project Cheetah, the birth of these cubs does not indicate its success either.

"We should also remember that the mating took place within a fenced area of less than six square kilometers and the cubs were also born within this enclosure. This project is based on poor science, it's is in conflict with stated national conservation priorities and is also at odds with the rule of law," Chellam told DW.

According to the wildlife biologist, there is a fundamental problem with the action plan guiding the introduction of African cheetahs in India, as it doesn't recognize the lack of adequate space for the animals to establish a viable population.

Last October, eight wildlife scientists expressed concerns in the research journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, that India's cheetah reintroduction plan hinged on an unsupported claim that the country had sufficient and suitable space for cheetahs. They further argued that the plan ignores crucial scientific findings from important recent demographic studies on free-ranging cheetahs.

According to Chellam, "India has erred…by bringing the cats much before habitats of adequate size and quality were ready. This prolonged captivity will have negative impacts on the cats. I sincerely hope that we do not import more cheetahs from Africa until we have secure and good quality habitats to host them."

Lack of predators may ensure cub survival rate

Yadvendradev Jhala, a conservationist and former dean at the Wildlife Institute of India, is one of the architects behind the cheetah reintroduction project. Jhala says that with 20 cheetahs from two different countries, India has a diverse cheetah genetic composition and if breeding was done judiciously, it could maintain this diversity for posterity.

"Cheetahs breed rapidly in a conducive environment. The birth of the cubs and mating by three females shows that the conditions in Kuno are ideal for them. It is the survival of cubs that is a concern. About 50% of cheetah cubs survive in the wild where they succumb to larger predators," Jhala told DW.

"But in semi-wild conditions without predators like in the enclosure of Kuno, cub survival rates can be as high as 90-95%. This will help increase our cheetah populations indigenously and reduce our dependency on import," he added.

The cheetahs at the KNP have been fitted with satellite collars and remain in a fenced holding area as they adapt to their new environment. Scientists are tracking their movements and monitoring their health.

The cheetahs will be released into the wild once conservationists decide they have fully adapted to local conditions.

Edited by: Sou-Jie van Brunnersum