[CarNerd]

7 Cheetahs have died so far: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.scr...-national-park

This is what happens when anything is done without thinking it through as we have seen with other decisions. At the start, many were exuberant about this project, now they are defending it by saying these things happen in the wild. When was the last time 7 Cheetahs died in 5 months? Pathetic!

[pandey.jai]

It’s such a sad state of affairs. Is anyone being held accountable at all? I recall someone taking all the credit back when the cheetah’s were introduced.

[deathwalkr]

Quoting from an article that came out in May '23:

"We anticipate a 50 per cent mortality in the first year, we know that only 10 are going to survive the initial release period"

"There seems to be a frenzy in India, we've lost four cheetahs and the project is failing. That is not true. Cheetahs naturally have high mortality rates. And we observed these same mortality rates in Africa when we reintroduced them into unfenced systems,"

"There has never been a successful reintroduction (of cheetahs) into an unfenced reserve in recorded history. It has been attempted 15 times in Africa and it failed every time. We are not advocating that India must fence all of its cheetah reserves, we are saying that just fence two or three and create source reserves to top up sink reserves,"

-Van der Merwe

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/can-...expert-4067146

[ValarMorghulis]

Well, any new initiative has a 50-50 chance of succeeding. IMO, we should rather try and fail than be crippled with fear of failure and not try anything.

As for credit and accountability, let's avoid politics (as per the forum rules).

Bring in more such initiatives: even if 1 out of 5 succeeds, the rewards will be much higher.

[dailydriver]

Although the source is generally perceived to be not amenable to toeing the Governments' line of thought and hence is bound to be questioned on its motives, the article nevertheless throws light on things that seem to have infected the innards of the project.

Read Here

Two thoughts that seem to emerge strongly from the writeup are:

The casualties are potentially a result of poor decision-making and inadequate preparation

and

In Africa, there have been 15 attempts of reintroducing cheetahs in unfenced forests...All of them have been unsuccessful

[sachinayak]

Originally Posted by CarNerd

7 Cheetahs have died so far...When was the last time 7 Cheetahs died in 5 months? Pathetic!

Add one more to this list
https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/en...le67080651.ece

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

We anticipate a 50 per cent mortality in the first year, we know that only 10 are going to survive the initial release period

Based on a link shared by dailydriver above -

In Africa, there have been 15 attempts of reintroducing cheetahs in unfenced forests...All of them have been unsuccessful

Once indicates 50-50, another indicates 0-100. Does not sync up.

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

Well, any new initiative has a 50-50 chance of succeeding. IMO, we should rather try and fail than be crippled with fear of failure and not try anything.

Easier said than done. There is a fine line between taking risk and being reckless.

Keeping politics apart (which is very difficult given the undertones here), the simple logic is do you focus on the essentials or do you focus on the "hogging the headline". The Asiatic Lions are at risk being located in a single location in Gir, Gujarat and there is a Supreme Court order (from April 2013) to relocate some of them to a different wildlife park to ensure their conservation. Kuno national park in MP was the identified as the alternate location. Gujarat government strongly opposed it (citing too much Bear population in Kuno threatening the success of relocating lions there). And then we went ahead to relocate Cheetahs from Africa in the same national park. This is nothing but sheer discregard to law (failing to comply with a SC order for 10+ years) and wanting to "stay in the headlines". Read this as a politically biased response or otherwise.

Note: Cheetah is classified as "Vulnerable" while Asiatic Lion is classified as "Endangered" on the IUCN Red List. Links shared below
Cheetah: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/219/124366642
Asiatic Lion: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15952/5327221

[ads11]

Originally Posted by sachinayak

Keeping politics apart (which is very difficult given the undertones here), the simple logic is do you focus on the essentials or do you focus on the "hogging the headline". The Asiatic Lions are at risk being located in a single location in Gir, Gujarat and there is a Supreme Court order (from April 2013) to relocate some of them to a different wildlife park to ensure their conservation. Kuno national park in MP was the identified as the alternate location. Gujarat government strongly opposed it (citing too much Bear population in Kuno threatening the success of relocating lions there). And then we went ahead to relocate Cheetahs from Africa in the same national park. This is nothing but sheer discregard to law (failing to comply with a SC order for 10+ years) and wanting to "stay in the headlines". Read this as a politically biased response or otherwise.

Note: Cheetah is classified as "Vulnerable" while Asiatic Lion is classified as "Endangered" on the IUCN Red List. Links shared below
Cheetah: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/219/124366642
Asiatic Lion: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15952/5327221

What I will say is that it's deeply frustrating from a conservation POV that the Gujarat govt chased short termism in terms of keeping the Asiatic Lions as a unique draw only to their state which really isn't in the best interests of the species as a whole and for the rest of the country. I'd have hoped that given the ties of PM Modi to the state apparatus, he'd have stepped in to wrap some knuckles to ensure that the endemic lions are moved to other locations to reduce their vulnerability. I think most wildlife conscious folks on this thread will share the frustration with the pig headedness of the Gujarat govt in ignoring the SC order here.

As for the cheetahs, it's certainly sad to hear about yet more fatalities. I echo ValarMorghulis in that the goal was laudable and it's a credit that an attempt was made. We still don't know if it's failed entirely though the current trajectory has been downward. Should the worst come to pass, for the zoologists and biologists involved, at the very least there should be vital data that gets collected that will go towards informing either a revitalised attempt in India or similar initiatives elsewhere.

[fhdowntheline]

I think this disaster of an experiment must be closed with cheetah speed. Let us not kill more animals just to satisfy the ego of a few. We already have human conflicts aplenty for that reason. Focus on the endangered species native to the Indian subcontinent. Why not try to repopulate Indian wolves or hyenas ?

[lapis_lazuli]

And another one has died. Now eighth. Two in a span of 2 days.

These are the cubs born here it seems?

[SuperGirl_Dad]

Kindly move post to appropriate thread if not suitable here.

A tangent news on similar lines, but with positive ending.

Link

News summary: Leopard attacks youth, youth capture it and brings it to forest Dept. Both people and animal given first aid. Youth lauded for not killing and bringing animal to Forest Dept.

[lapis_lazuli]

Death of yet another. Reason : sepsis from radio collar infection.

[sachinayak]

Add one more to this list

https://www.rediff.com/news/report/o...h/20230802.htm

9th fatality since March 2023.

[Shubhendra]

Looks like Indian Forest department is working on their own without listening to Cheetah experts

https://indianexpress.com/article/in...ll-sc-8872128/

[V.Narayan]

https://www.indiatoday.in/india-toda...156-2024-01-06

Good news. Cheetah cubs are born. At last something is working. I hope they survive.

[Theyota]

There was no news about Cheetahs for a few months which is a good news in my book. I was thinking finally this experiment is under control. But unfortunately today we have news of death of another adult.

I wonder, if we are having free space in forests like Kuno for more animals, why did we not relocate some of the leopards that seem to be overflowing in states like Karnataka instead of bringing Cheetahs from another continent?