REINTRODUCTION OF CHEETAH - ENVIRONMENT
News: Explained
| Cheetahs and tigers: the saga of big cats in India
What's in the news?
● This
year marked the arrival of Namibian cheetahs to India, the first
intercontinental transfer of wild cats into the country since independence.
● Eight cheetahs were flown
into the Kuno National Park (KNP), Madhya Pradesh, from Namibia on September 17
as part of an ambitious project to re-introduce the big cat into the country.
● They
were released into the quarantine zone at the KNP by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi.
● In
February, the government went public with a plan to import a cohort of animals
that could live in India, setting up a task force to implement the programme.
Cheetah:
● The
cheetah is one of the oldest of the big cat species.
● The
cheetah is also the world’s fastest land
mammal that lives in Africa and Asia.
IUCN STATUS:
● Asiatic cheetah -
Critically Endangered (CR)
● African Cheetah
- Vulnerable (VU)
India: Cheetah - extinct in India.
Reasons for the Extinction:
● Hunting
● Diminishing
habitat
● Non-availability
of enough prey - black buck, gazelle and hare - led to the extinction of the
cat in India (1952).
● The
advent of climate change and growing human populations have only made these
problems worse.
Go back to basics:
Reintroduction to India:
● Reintroduction
of a species means releasing it in an area where it is capable of surviving.
● Recently,
the Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change has launched the
‘Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah
in India’ under which 50 of these big cats will be introduced in the next five
years.
● The
Ministry will also launch extensive awareness campaigns among the local
communities and villages, encouraging them to be stakeholders in the project.
● Kuno Palpur National Park
(KNP) in Madhya Pradesh is the first site to host these cheetahs.
● They’ll be imported from
Namibia.
● The
main goal of the Cheetah reintroduction project in India is to establish viable
cheetah metapopulation in India that allows the cheetah to perform its
functional role as a top predator and provides space for the expansion of the
cheetah within its historical range thereby contributing to its global
conservation efforts.
Facts about Kuno Palpur national park:
● Established
in 1981 as a wildlife sanctuary in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
● Flora:
Dry savanna grassland.
● Fauna:
Predators like Indian leopard, Indian wolf, Sloth beer, and Ungulates include
chital, Sambar deer, nilgai, four-horned antelope, chinkara, blackbuck.
● Most
of the inhabitants were Saharia tribal people.
● The
sanctuary derives its name from the Kuno,
a tributary of the river Chambal; this perennial river flows through the
middle, bisecting the sanctuary.
Other Key takeaways:
What is the tiger population in India?
● Every
four years, India carries out a census of the tiger population across India.
● The
latest estimate put the tiger population at 2,967.
● Tigers
were reportedly increasing at a rate of about 6% per annum and the area that
they occupied was roughly stable, at about 89,000 square km since 2014.
● These
numbers are estimated using a sophisticated system that involves photographing
animals via camera traps as well as mathematical analysis. In 2006, India had
1,411 tigers.
● This
rose to 1,706 in 2010 and 2,226 in 2014 on the back of improved conservation
measures and new estimation methods.
Tiger Census:
● The
national tiger census is conducted once
every four years.
● The
Nation-wide tiger census was earlier held in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018.
● The
National Tiger Conservation Authority
(NTCA) conducts tiger censuses in partnership with state forest
departments, conservation NGOs, and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
Key features of the census:
● Tigers:
The total count of tigers has risen to 2,967 in 2018 from 2,226 in 2014 - an
increase of 741 individuals or 33% in four years.
● Tiger
population within reserves is 1,923 (65% of the total tiger population of
India) which means 35% of the tiger population still lives outside the
reserves.
● State wise: Madhya
Pradesh has maximum tigers at 526 followed by Karnataka at 524 and 442 in
Uttarakhand.
● Chhattisgarh
and Mizoram saw a decline in the tiger population and all other States saw a
positive increase.
● Highest Tiger Reserves:
Corbett Tiger Reserve(Uttarakhand) has the highest tigers followed by Nagarhole
tiger reserve(Karnataka) and Bandipur Tiger Reserve(Karnataka).
● Dampa Tiger Reserve (Mizoram),
Buxa Tiger Reserve (West Bengal) and Palamau Reserve (Jharkhand) have no tigers
left.
How did the numbers increase?
● The
consistent implementation of Project Tiger since 1973, whereby dedicated tiger
reserves were established in India, as well as anti-poaching measures have
played a significant role in tiger conservation.
● India
has 53 tiger reserves with the latest being added early this year.
● However,
rising tiger numbers have meant that nearly half the tigers are now outside
designated protected zones that lead to increasing instances of human-animal
conflict.
Project Tiger:
● It
was launched in 1973 with 9 tiger
reserves for conserving our national animal, the tiger.
● Currently,
the Project Tiger coverage has increased to 54, spread out in 18 tiger range states.
● The
tiger reserves are organized according to a core/buffer model.
● The
core parts are legally designated as a national park or a sanctuary, whilst the
buffer or surrounding areas are a mix of forest and non-forest land maintained
as a multiple use area.
● It
is an ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme
of the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change that provides
government support to tiger states for tiger conservation in designated tiger
reserves.
National Tiger Conservation Authority:
● It
is a statutory body under the Ministry
of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
● It
was established in 2005 following the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force.
● It
was constituted under enabling provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act,
1972, as amended in 2006, for strengthening tiger conservation, as per powers
and functions assigned to it.