Can Cheetahs Help India’s Grasslands?

The government says the first batch of cheetahs from Namibia is slowly adapting to Indian conditions, although none of the animals have been released into the wild. How long will it take for a clear picture of the success of the transfer exercise to emerge?

Rajesh Gopal: From my personal experience with tigers in Sariska it took two and a half to three years. I have not been involved with Cheetah [project], But I think it’s going to be a bit difficult because they’re in a completely different area than what they’re used to. Cheetahs are arboreal (they run to hunt) and are not hunters like tigers or leopards, which means they require large tracts of territory.

Ravi Chellam: Nothing is linear in ecology. But let’s look at the metrics we want to use. The first, of course, is survival; Animals have to survive. But a better sign of success is when they not only survive, but begin to reproduce and have a self-sustaining population. Reports indicate that roughly 20 cheetahs are being introduced annually for the next 8–10 years and the official Cheetah Action Plan states that in 15 years the project will be considered successful if Kuno has an established population of 21 adults. reach the population. Thus, in 7-8 years, we will introduce around 160 cheetahs.

The action plan also says that if the large habitat of 3,000–5,000 km², which is larger than the 748 km² where they are located, is properly protected, the number could go up to a maximum of 40. So, it’s a real long-term investment, and a lot of the animals are going to come here regularly from Africa. and the results are [predicted to be] Between 21 in 15 years to 36 in 30-40 years. The best case scenario is estimated in the action plan.

Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav has said that the cheetah reintroduction program has a major goal of improving India’s grasslands. Is this an optimal way to conserve India’s grasslands?

Rajesh Gopal: Probably yes, because India does not have vast savanna grasslands like Africa from where the animals are coming. We have six or seven of them. Cheetahs have been found in the wild, but they mostly like to run. Therefore, they indicate the overall well-being of open areas, grasslands and grasslands. if they [grasslands] Well, this indicates that uncontrolled populations (deer and chinkara) and the normal prey of cheetahs also go there. Therefore, the health of cheetah populations counts as a surrogate marker of the health of grasslands.

Ravi Chellam: I respectfully disagree. My position on this is not a brilliant one. If we are really serious about protecting and restoring these open natural ecosystems, including grasslands, we must start by asking, what are the problems? What caused such habitat degradation and degradation and what do we need to do to reduce these threats? It is well known that the Great Indian Bustard, the Indian wolf and the blackbuck, which are all native species and are Schedule 1 species (protected species), are facing declining populations and a shrinking distribution range. As we discussed, it will take 30-40 years for cheetahs to reach a population of 20-40 animals. So, how will they save the Indian grasslands? The Wasteland Atlas of India still classifies large tracts of open natural ecosystems as wasteland and a cheetah from Africa is not needed to change that classification. Large tracts of open natural ecosystems, including grasslands, are given to renewable energy projects to install solar panels. The arrival of cheetahs is not going to change this.

Are there examples in ecology or wildlife history where the introduction of a species has actually contributed to the development of a larger ecosystem?

Rajesh Gopal: Tiger is a matter. We started with nine reserves and now we have 53 reserves which is 2.3% of the geographical area of ​​the country. These areas used to be a destination for game hunting and hounds. While they had a good diversity of flora and fauna, their surroundings were poorly managed. It took scientists a lot of effort to establish the source and sink dynamics. How specifically the concept of Investing in Umbrella will bring about a compelling, inclusive engagement with the people and regions that emerged from the Project Tiger experience.

Ravi Chellam: Globally, the one that comes to mind is the reintroduction of wolves and the Yellowstone (US) ecosystem, and also beavers. There are many examples that are based on solid science. Unfortunately, I am unable to attest that our current data action plan is based on good science because the numbers don’t add up. The average home-range size for cheetahs in the best habitats in East Africa is 750 km². The cheetah is the weakest of the big cats. They are present in a low density of less than per 100 km². Let’s be generous and say that there may be 8-10 cheetahs in 750 sq km, but this is not a viable population. Even the best estimate is 21 cheetahs, which is not a viable population. The government talks of ‘meta-population management’, but looking at India’s approach to conservation, the challenges we face, the scale of human presence we have to engage with and deal with, I think we Going further than what is possible.

One of the government’s goals is to launch ecotourism initiatives as part of its long-term plans. While creating alternative livelihoods for the local population in Kuno is a laudable proposition, can ecotourism and conservation go hand in hand?

Rajesh Gopal: I have some reservations about tourism. I’m not a huge fan of this as experience shows that people tend to overdo it. Any tourism scheme should be community driven. One has to be very specific and careful as to what kind of infrastructure will be built around it. Nothing compares to seeing an animal in the wild, but it should be slowly allowed. Now, we need to wait.

Ravi Chellam: You have to do it. You cannot work in a vacuum. But as Dr. Gopal said, there are challenges. We see these in tiger reserves, especially in the more popular reserves. And it is not just limited to tourists visiting the wildlife area; It is the facilities and infrastructure that we develop, who we bring in, who is employed, why local communities are pushed out and there is a whole host of social and other issues that we need to deal with. But speaking of cheetahs… there were announcements that cheetah safaris would start in February. We are already in March. Now is not the time to talk about tourism in the context of cheetahs. If the Cheetah Project is really about conservation, first let’s get our conservation act together.

Kuno Park was originally designed for the lions of Gir in Gujarat and they have not arrived there. Do you think the focus on cheetahs is putting the future of the growing lion population at risk? Or do you think it’s plausible, as the government says, that all three cats can coexist in relative harmony over time?

Ravi Chellam: See, there is the ecological principle. And there is a more important fundamental issue that we need to address, which is the rule of law. On April 12, 2013, the Supreme Court had said that the lions should be shifted from Gir to Kuno within six months. Lions have not been removed even after ten years. Lions and cheetahs previously co-existed in India when only a few thousand square km were available. We had an overlapping distribution of lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs. It depends on the local habitat: more open, flatter habitats would have had lions and cheetahs, while denser habitats would have had leopards and tigers. Lions, leopards and cheetahs still co-exist in Africa today. Therefore, ecologically, there is no problem. But from a conservation perspective, all our eggs are in the same basket with the fallen lions.

Rajesh Gopal: Kuno is not the only viable destination for the lions; There are other places where this can be thought of. You need geographic isolation, isolation to ensure reproductive isolation, because the phenotype is reflected in the genotype.